Wheelchair Elite Field Invited Wheelchair Athletes（Men） Invited Wheelchair Athletes （Women） Elite Wheelchair Athletes（Men） Elite Wheelchair Athletes(Women ） 28 Jan. 2020 updated Tokyo Marathon Foundation Wheelchair Athletes Tokyo Marathon Wheelchair Race Director Masazumi Soejima This year is a special year where the Olympic and Paralympic Games take place once in every four year, and as for Tokyo Marathon, it is the first AbbottWMM race kicking-off for 2020. Taking in consideration that the Paralympic marathon (Sep. 6) course will be overlapping partially with the Tokyo Marathon course, it is an opportunity for athletes to gain pre-race simulation, and I hope that everyone will enjoy the race as it will be a race like no other. To add greater excitement, we have implemented 3 different schemes for this year. Since the course change from 2017, the Tokyo Marathon has become fast-pace race and has brought new course record for the elite runners. But that has not been the same for the wheelchair race and has not led to better record. Because the Tokyo Marathon course is flat for the most part, there are very little opportunity for the athletes to make a move. As a result, looking back in the past races, the athletes have the tendency to maintain in pack until the last 1km of the stone-paved road in Marunouchi Naka- Dori Ave., where it then become a sprint race in the last 200m. Perhaps the reason why we have not been able to produce fast race record is because game change happens only at the finish, lacking game shift throughout the course. And as the wheelchair race director, I would like to create a race that will lead to new records. The first scheme we have planned is to shorten the distance of the AbbottWMM Wheelchair Bonus Point. In the previous AbbottWMM XII series Wheelchair Bonus Point, the distance was 1.3 km but we have shortened it to 400 m, where the fastest men and female athlete will earn 8 pts. The second scheme is implementing “Beyond the Limit”, our very own program to encourage all athletes to break the course record. The top 3 athletes who crosses the 37.5 km within the split mark time designed to lead athletes to break the course record will receive bonus prize (the current course records are 1:26:00 for men and 1:41:04 for women). The designated split time are sub 1:15:00 for men and sub 1:28:00 for women, but the time setting may be adjusted and reintroduced at the technical meeting (Feb. 29). Note, the 37.5 km is also the finish point for the Wheelchair Bonus Point, and combining the two schemes synergistically we can expect new course record. The third scheme is raising the prize purse, almost doubling what we used to offer. The overall prize purse has increased, where the 1st prize purse has raised from 1,000,000 yen to 2,000,000 yen for both men and women equally. We truly hope the athletes will aim to achieve not only fast time record, but aggressively go for the prize money. 2 ■ World’s Top Wheelchair Athletes Line-up for the Race! Along with the 3 schemes we have implemented, we have also focused to invite top athletes who has the speed. From abroad we have invited 6 men and 6 women, and from within Japan we have invited 3 men and 3 women. I would like to introduce our defending champion Marcel Hug (SUI), and he’ll be joined by Daniel Romanchuk (USA) placing 2nd, Ernst VanDyk (RSA) placing 3rd and Josh Cassidy (CAN) finishing 5th last year. Johnboy Smith (GBR) and Jordi Madera (ESP) who are ranked in the top of AbbottWMM series will be entering for the first time or returning to complete the race. And I would like to also introduce Kota Hokinoue, Tomoki Suzuki and Ryota Yoshida who placed top three within the Japanese men last year and will be returning. Looking at the recent records, I believe the race will be centered among Marcel, Daniel and Tomoki. Especially Daniel, we can expect him to come back in full speed, now that he has experienced the course and has the strength to finish in 2nd place despite the cold and rain. But our defending champion Marcel who has shown us all his superior strength even within the rough weather will surely not allow his title to be taken that easily. As for Tomoki, he has been conscious of these two, and definitely will make a move to keep up with them. We can look forward to great record that is led by these three men. Of course, experienced Ernst and Josh will definitely keep up, while Johnboy and Jordi with many international experiences will be joining, we can look forward to how they will race in Tokyo. For the women’s line up, we have our defending champion Manuela Schär (SUI), joined by Tatyana McFadden and Susannah Scaroni (both USA) placing 2nd and 3rd last year, along with Amanda McGrory (USA) and Madison De Rozario (AUS) who has several defending title within AbbottWMM and lastly Christie Dawes (AUS) entering for the first time, totaling to 6 world’s best female athletes. From Japan, we have 3 athletes lined up. Tsubasa Kina did not finish last year’s Tokyo race due to weather, but in November she broke the Japanese record and carrying good momentum, and hope that she will keep up with the top athletes until the end. Kazumi Nakayama is class T53 with less mobility who focusses more on track events, but she continued to build endurance last year. Lastly, it is our past champion Wakako Tsuchida, who will be entering Tokyo for the first time since 2016. She has transitioned to triathlon in 2017, but will aim for marathon qualification for the Tokyo Paralympic Games along with triathlon this year, and we can expect her to come to the event fully prepared. Since the 2018 Berlin Marathon, Manuela has been winning consecutively for the past 9 events of AbbottWMM and we can expect her to outstand the others again in Tokyo. But with other athletes striving to reach Manuela, faster record time can be expected naturally and most definitely, we hope our Japanese athletes will have a good battle along. 3 車いす招待選手(男子) INVITED WHEELCHAIR ATHLETES (MEN) ※年齢は大会当日（２０２０年３月1日）のものとなります。 ※Age as of March 1, 2020 プロフィール Biographies 国籍／ スイス・SUI 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 マルセル・フグ No.1001 16 Jan. 1986 Name HUG, Marcel 年齢／Age 広報写真 34 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:22:51／2019 大分国際(Oita) 1 自己最高記録 1:18:04／* 2017 ボストン(Boston) 1 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2019 東京（Tokyo） 1:30:44 1st 国籍／アメリカ・USA 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 ダニエル・ロマンチュク No.1002 3 Aug. 1998 Name ROMANCHUK, Daniel 年齢／Age 広報写真 21 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:23:55／2019 大分国際（Oita） 3 自己最高記録 1:21:36／* 2019 ボストン（Boston） 1 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2019 シカゴ（Chicago) 1:30:26 1st 国籍／ 南アフリカ・RSA 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 エルンスト・バンダイク No.1003 4 Apr. 1973 Name VAN DYK, Ernst 年齢／Age 広報写真 46 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:24:00／2019 大分国際(Oita) 5 自己最高記録 1:18:04／* 2017 ボストン(Boston) 2 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2018 大分国際(Oita） 1:24:03 7th 4 所属／千葉・ トヨタ自動車 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 鈴木 朋樹 No.1004 14 Jun. 1994 Name SUZUKI, Tomoki 年齢／Age 広報写真 25 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:22:55／2019 大分国際(Oita) 2 自己最高記録 1:22:55／2019 大分国際(Oita) 2 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2018 東京 (Tokyo) 1:26:24 2nd 国籍／スペイン・ESP 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 ホルディ・マデラ No.1005 19 Jan. 1980 Name MADERA, Jordi 年齢／Age 広報写真 40 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:24:02／2019 大分国際(Oita) 7 自己最高記録 1:22:10／* 2017 ボストン(Boston) 9 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2018 ロンドン（London） 1:31:24 6th 所属／福岡・Yahoo! 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 洞ノ上 浩太 No.1006 30 Mar. 1974 Name HOKINOUE, Kota 年齢／Age 広報写真 45 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:24:03／2019 大分国際(Oita) 9 自己最高記録 1:20:52／2013 ソウル国際(Seoul) 2 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2019 ボストン (Boston) 1:29:32* 6th 所属／東京・ SUS 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 吉田 竜太 No.1007 28 Sep. 1981 Name YOSHIDA, Ryota 年齢／Age 広報写真 38 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:24:02／2019 大分国際(Oita) 8 自己最高記録 1:23:18／* 2017 ボストン(Boston) 11 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2018 ベルリン（Berlin） 1:29:50 8th 5 国籍／ カナダ・CAN 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 ジョシュ・キャシディ No.1008 15 Nov. 1984 Name CASSIDY, Josh 年齢／Age 広報写真 35 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:29:59／* 2019 ボストン(Boston) 9 自己最高記録 1:18:25／* 2012 ボストン(Boston) 1 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2019 東京（Tokyo） 1:36:22 5th 国籍／ イギリス・GBR 生年月日／Date of Birth 名前 ジョンボーイ・スミス No.1009 27 Nov. 1989 Name SMITH, Johnboy 年齢／Age 広報写真 30 資格記録 Time 大会名/Race 順位/Place Qualified Time 1:31:49／2019 ベルリン(Berlin) 7 自己最高記録 1:29:44／2018 ベルリン(Berlin) 3 Personal Best 備考／Remark 2017 ベルリン (Berlin) 1:32:45 5th *は非公認記録ですがワールドパラアスレチックス (WPA)のランキングに反映されている記録となります。 *This record is reflected on the world ranking of World Para Athletics , but are not official record.