Mizuki Noguchi
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Women's athletics | ||
Representing Japan | ||
Olympic Games | ||
2004 Athens | Marathon | |
World Championships | ||
2003 Paris | Marathon
|
Mizuki Noguchi (野口 みずき, Noguchi Mizuki, born July 3, 1978) is a
Initially starting out as a track and cross country athlete, her first major success was becoming the Asian cross country champion at age 21. She soon switched to road running, however, focusing on the half marathon. She won the individual and team silver medals at the 1999 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, and won a second team silver with a fourth-place finish at the same competition in 2000.
A switch to the marathon event demonstrated her talents further: She won the
Before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Noguchi had set the second fastest time in the world for the previous year.[4] However, she was ruled out of all competitions after tests revealed that she had fatigue and a muscular back problem.[5] She missed the Olympics and the entire 2009 and 2010 seasons as a result. She returned in November 2011 with a fifth-place finish at the Zevenheuvelenloop.[6] She tried to gain a spot on the 2012 Olympic team, but her run of 2:25:33 hours left her in sixth at the Nagoya Women's Marathon.[7] A return to Nagoya in 2013 brought her third place with a run of 2:24:05 hours.[8]
Early career
Noguchi was born in
In 1997 she was hired by Wacoal, a maker of women's clothing, as part of their "Spark Angels" program of sponsored women athletes. In October of the following year the director, Nobuyuki Fujita (藤田信之), left over differences with the company. He took with him a coach and a few athletes, including Noguchi. While she was receiving unemployment benefits for a short time, she remained active athletically. In February 1999, Fujita and all his followers were hired by Globaly, a commodity futures firm.
Noguchi began 1999 by winning individual and team gold at the
In March 2002 she entered her first full marathon, the Nagoya International Women's Marathon, and won. In January 2003 she won the Osaka International Women's Marathon with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes 18 seconds, the second-fastest on record for Japan. She also won a silver medal in the World Championships in Paris that year.
In 2005, as
2004 Olympic champion
On 22 August 2004 Noguchi won the marathon in the
Records at Berlin
On September 25, 2005 Noguchi won the Berlin Marathon, which was her first big competition since winning the gold medal in Athens more than a year earlier. Four years earlier, the Berlin Marathon was won by Naoko Takahashi, the Japanese runner who took the Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000. Takahashi's remarkable win in 2001 in Berlin marked the first time in history that a woman ran sub-2:20, clocking in at 2 hours, 19 minutes and 46 seconds. Noguchi improved on Takahashi's time by more than half a minute, winning the 2005 Marathon in 2:19:12. Noguchi's time set three new records: the Berlin Marathon course record, the Japanese record, and the Asian record.
After the victory, she declared:
I am happy about my victory and the three records – the Japanese record, the Asian record and the course record. The course is really flat and nice to run. The slight ups and downs helped me to find my rhythm. My coach told me not to worry about split times. I have to thank the fabulous spectators, who cheered me all the way to the finish. I am so happy to have run here. [...] I saw a lot of churches and quite old buildings. But I also saw very nice shops and everywhere people. The race was good, only at 35 km my feet started to get heavy. But I thought of my training and I grit my teeth.
Achievements
- All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Japan | ||||
2002 | Nagoya Women's Marathon | Nagoya, Japan | 1st | 2:25:35 |
2003 | Osaka International Ladies Marathon
|
Osaka, Japan | 1st | 2:21:18 |
World Championships | Paris, France | 2nd | 2:24:14
| |
2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 1st | 2:26:20 |
2005 | Berlin Marathon | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 2:19:12 |
2007 | Tokyo Marathon | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | 2:21:37 |
References
- IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-23.
- IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-23.
- ^ IAAF, May 9, 2010: Kosgei, Keitany shatter 25Km World records in Berlin - Updated
- IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-02.
- ^ Broadbent, Rick (2008-08-10). Olympic champion, Mizuki Noguchi, rushed to hospital. The Times. Retrieved on 2010-02-23.
- ^ van Hemert, Wim (2011-11-20). Gebrselassie heads Ethiopian double in Nijmegen. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-21.
- ^ Nakamura, Ken (2012-03-11). Mayorova steals the show in Nagoya, third time a charm for Ozaki - Report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-03-20.
- ^ Kizaki clinches World Championships berth with Nagoya victory as Noguchi returns. IAAF (2013-03-10). Retrieved on 2013-03-17.
External links
- Mizuki Noguchi at World Athletics
- Mizuki Noguchi at Olympics.com
- Mizuki Noguchi at Olympic.org (archived)
- Mizuki Noguchi at Olympedia
- Mizuki Noguchi at MarathonInfo