"Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon" Shogo Nakamura to participate in Tokyo Olympics representative

Shogo Nakamura, who has been appointed as the representative of the men's marathon of the Tokyo Olympics, will participate in the "Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon" to be held on the 28th of this month.

The "Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon", which has the longest history in Japan and has been held as a tournament in which top runners participate, has been decided to be integrated with the "Osaka Marathon" of the citizen marathon. This tournament will be the last to be held.

On the 9th, the executive committee of the tournament held an online press conference, and it was announced that Nakamura, who has been appointed as the representative of the Tokyo Olympics, will participate as an invited player.

28-year-old Nakamura won the right to participate in the MGC = Marathon Grand Championship, the representative selection of the Tokyo Olympics, in the 7th place of the top Japanese athletes in this tournament three years ago when he faced the first marathon.

Then, he won the adult MGC and was appointed as the representative of the Tokyo Olympics, and this is the first full marathon since then.

In addition, Yuki Kawauchi, who participated in the world championships four times as a general participant and served as a pacemaker at the Osaka International Ladies Marathon last month and contributed to the record breaking of the tournament, will participate.

In order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the tournament will make the stadium, which will be the start and finish point, unattended, and call for refraining from supporting along the road.

Toshihiko Seko, the project leader of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations' Marathon Strengthening Strategy Project, said, "It's sad that the tournament will be integrated, but I think we have all the right members at the end, so I'd like to expect a high-level race."

The tournament will start and finish at Ojiyama Athletics Stadium in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture on the 28th of this month, and will be broadcast on NHK General TV, Radio No. 1, and "NHK Plus" on PCs and smartphones.