Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia wins the 2005 Osaka Ladies Marathon (© AFP/Getty Images)
Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia overtook Japan’s Hiromi Ominami, who had led the race from 10Km, at 32.4Km, and later held off Mari Ozaki to win today’s 2005 Osaka Ladies Marathon in 2:22:56 in Osaka, Japan (Sun 30 Jan).
“I hope to do something special,” had been the Latvian’s pre-race words, and that was exactly what she did. “I feel great. I said, ‘my dream was to win,’ in the pre-race interview, so I am satisfied.”
Finishing second with 2:23:59, 29 seconds off her personal best, and automatically qualified for Japan’s World Championships marathon team was Mari Ozaki. It will be her second trip to the Worlds, having run the 10,000m in Edmonton. Harumi Hiroyama, who finished second to Lidia Simon in the 2000 edition of the race, finished ahead of Simon this time, taking third today in 2:25:56, while Simon was fifth in 2:27:01.
Ominami takes the advantage in the first half
The race started under a sunny sky but the weather changed during the two and a half hours, with even an occasional sprinkle of rain observed. At 3Km into the race, the lead pack consisted of fourteen runners. The first major casualties were Mihaela Botezan and Mizuho Nasukawa, who lost contact with the lead pack early at 4.5Km, and the next to fall back was debutante Yuki Saito.
The race did not start out slow, passing 5Km in 17:02 and 10Km in 33:46, and it was broken wide open quite early. Hiromi Ominami took the lead at 10Km and started to push the pace. She covered 10Km to 11Km in 3:20 and sped up to 3:16 for the next 1Km. By 11.5Km into the race Ominami (2nd, 2004 Berlin, 2:23:26 PB), was pulling ahead. “Because I was short on training and Simon did not cover Ominami’s move, I decided to stay behind,” second placed Ozaki was to explain her tactics after the race.
Covering 10Km to 15Km in 16:35, Ominami was running completely alone and by 15Km (50:21) she was 25 seconds ahead of a group that included Miki Oyama, Prokopcuka, Ozaki, Hiroyama, Simon, Kazue Ogoshi and Olivera Jevtic. Five kilometres later at 20Km (1:06:56) Ominami was more than a minute ahead of the chasing pack.
Prokopcuka pushes the pace in effort to catch Ominami
The next crucial event of the race took place at the half way when Prokopcuka started to push the pace and moved out of the chasing group. She started to chase Ominami. At about the same time Ogoshi was the first in the group to lose contact with the chasing pack. Soon, the pack was generally falling apart and only four runners – Simon, Ozaki, Oyama and Hiroyama - were left in the group.
At 25Km (1:23:41), Ominami was still one minute ahead of Prokopcuka, who in turn was over 30 seconds ahead of the group of four (this split at 25Km matched exactly Mizuki Noguchi’s from two years ago when she set the current course record of 2:21:18).
However, Ominami was starting to falter. For the first time since the first 5Km, Ominami took over 17 minutes to cover the 5Km which led up to the 30Km checkpoint, and Prokopcuka took advantage of the situation and started to bridge the gap.
The chase pack was also changing its complexion. Out of the four, at 31Km, Ozaki moved ahead and started to chase Prokopcuka and Ominami. “Last time (two years ago in Osaka) I lost contact with the leader at 31Km, that is why I started to run hard at 31Km,” explained Ozaki later.
So by 30km (1:40:50), Ominami’s lead had been cut by half to 32 seconds. Prokopcuka was gaining fast.
Ominami passed at 32.4km
The inevitable happened at 32.4Km when Prokopcuka caught and passed the leader, just as if Ominami was standing still. Prokopcuka was now running alone in the front, and at 35Km (1:58:16) she was over 50 seconds ahead of Ominami, who in turn was only 22 seconds ahead of a fast closing Ozaki. At 35.7Km into the race Ozaki passed the faltering Ominami to gain the distinction of being the first Japanese in the race, the position so important to making the World Championships marathon team.
Ozaki was starting to close the gap on Prokopcuka, and by 40Km (2:15:28), she was 62 seconds behind. However, that was as close as she got, and so Prokopcuka prevailed to win the race in 2:22:56, a personal best by more than a minute. It was also her first marathon victory, and she was clear about her next aim. “My other goal for the year is to win the New York City Marathon.”
Ozaki finished second in her second marathon, while the veteran Hiroyama was third. Another second time marathon runner Oyama, was fourth, while another veteran, Simon was fifth. Ominami who was in command for half of the race finished sixth in 2:28:07.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
with assistance from Akihiro Onishi and Tatsuo Terada
Weather 10C, 40% humidity,
Results:
JPN unless otherwise indicated
1) Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:22:56
2) Mari Ozaki 2:23:59
3) Harumi Hiroyama 2:25:56
4) Miki Oyama 2:26:55
5) Lidia Simon (ROM) 2:27:01
6) Hiromi Ominami 2:28:07
7) Mihaela Botezan (ROM) 2:28:34
8) Mizuho Nasukawa 2:30:15
9) Anastasia Ndereba (KEN) 2:30:45
10) Olivera Jevtic (SCG) 2:31:43
Splits
5Km 17:02 Olga Romanova
10Km 33:46 (16:44) Olga Romanova
15Km 50:21 (16:35) Hiromi Ominami
20Km 1:06:56 (16:35) Hiromi Ominami
1:07:59 Jelena Prokopcuka
25Km 1:23:41 (16:45) Hiromi Ominami
1:23:42 Jelena Prokopcuka
30Km 1:40:50 (17:09) Hiromi Ominami
1:41:22 Jelena Prokopkuka
35Km 1:58:16 (16:54) Jelena Prokopcuka
1:59:08 Hiromi Ominami
40Km 2:15:28 (17:12) Jelena Prokopcuka
2:16:30 Mari Ozaki
