the marathon at the start of 2013 and she was leading with two kilometres to go at the Osaka Women's Marathon. She faltered badly in the final stages, turning a 19-second lead to 23-second deficit behind Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko. Still, her runner-up finish in 2:24:21 hours was a personal best. This gained her selection for Japan for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics marathon, where she won her first major medal over the distance – a bronze. Although she was aged 31, she was the youngest of the medallists alongside Edna Kiplagat and Valeria Straneo. Her foremost race the following season was the 2014 Berlin Marathon, but her time of 2:26:24.7 hours only brought her sixth place in the high calibre contest. She did not compete at a major tournament for a whole year, finally returning for the 2015 Chicago Marathon, where she was fourth. She aimed to make the Japanese Olympic marathon team and assured her place with a victory at the Osaka Women's Marathon. She defeated the opposition by over six minutes and set a new personal best of 2:22:17 hours, moving her into the Japanese all-time top seven women. International competitions National titles Japan Championships in Athletics 5000 m: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 Marathons 2013 Osaka Women's Marathon: 1st (2:24:21) 2011 Chicago Marathon: 3rd (2:24:38) 2014 Berlin Marathon: 6th (2:26:24.7) 2015 Chicago Marathon: 4th (2:24:25) 2016 Osaka Women's Marathon: 1st (2:22:17) Personal bests 3000 metres - 8:44.40 min (2000) 5000 metres - 14:53.22 min (2005) 10,000 metres - 30:51.81 min (2002) 15K run - 46:55 min (2006) - former world record Half marathon - 1:07:26 hrs (2006) Marathon - 2:22:17 (2016) References External links 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Aomori Prefecture Japanese female long-distance runners Japanese female marathon runners Olympic female long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Japan Olympic female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian