'Q-chan' fails to make Olympics
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Naoko Takahashi
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Naoko Takahashi's bid for a second straight Olympic gold in the women's marathon was crushed when she failed to qualify for the Athens Olympics, the Japan Association of Athletic Federations announced March 15.
The women's national team will comprise Naoko Sakamoto, Reiko Tosa and Mizuki Noguchi, the association said.
Takahashi finished second with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 21 seconds at the Tokyo Women's International Marathon in November and opted out of the next two qualifying races while Sakamoto clocked a winning time of 2:25.29 in the Osaka race in January and Tosa 2:23.57 in the Nagoya race March 14.
Noguchi had secured her Olympic berth by winning the silver at the World Athletics Championships in Paris in August with a time of 2:24.14. Sakamoto came in fourth in the same race.
The Japan Times Weekly: March 20, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
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