 Fukushi at the 2013 World Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 March 1982 (1982-03-25) (age 43) Itayanagi, Aomori, Japan |
Medal record | |
Kayoko Fukushi (福士 加代子,Fukushi Kayoko, born 25 March 1982 inItayanagi, Aomori) is a Japaneselong-distance runner, who specializes in the5000,10,000 metres andmarathon. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004, 2008 and 2012Summer Olympics. She was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the2013 World Championships in Athletics. She holds a marathon best of 2:22:17 hours.
Fukushi won twosilver medals at the2002 Asian Games and then won the 10,000 mgold medal at the2006 edition. She is a formerworld record holder in the 15 km road race and is theJapanese record holder in the 5000 m, 10,000 m, and10K road distance. Fukushi is also a six-time national champion over the 5000 m.[1] In addition, she has run more sub 34 minute 10,000 m runs in competition than any other woman in the world (as of 2014 this mark stands at 44).[2]
She was chosen as the torch lighter for the2003 Asian Winter Games which was held inAomori Prefecture, her home region.
Fukushi was fourth over 5000 m at the2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics and had a breakout year two years later. After a fifteenth-place finish in the senior section of the2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, she broke national junior records (over3000 m, 5000 m and 10,000 m) and then went on to record an out-right national record of 8:44.40 minutes in the 3000 m that July.[3]
At the2002 Asian Games she took asilver medal double in the 5000/10,000 m, finishing behindSun Yingjie on both occasions.[4]
Continuing to focus ontrack running, she ran at her first senior global track competition in 2003. She was eleventh in the 5000 m at the2003 World Championships in Athletics, but had less success on her Olympic debut as she finished 26th in the 10,000 m at the2004 Athens Games. She doubled up at the2005 World Championships in Athletics, coming near the top ten in both long-distance track events.
On February 5, 2006 at theKagawa Marugame Half Marathon she broke the 15-kilometreroad running record by running the distance in 46:55 minutes.Tirunesh Dibaba ofEthiopia improved the record to 46:28 minutes in 2009.[5] During the race inMarugame she also set theAsian record in thehalf marathon. She had more success on home turf soon after with a win at theFukuoka International Cross Country.[6] She competed at the2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, also held in Fukuoka, and took sixth place in the long race – one of only two non-East African runners to make the top ten.[7] Her finish also led the Japanese women to thebronze medal in the team competition. She claimed a bronze on the track at the2006 IAAF World Cup, coming third over 5000 m and took the 10,000 mgold medal at the2006 Asian Games – her first major championship win.[8]
Despite her continental success, she failed to break through on the global scene, just finishing in (or near) the top ten at the World Championships in2007 and2009, and an eleventh-place finish at2008 Beijing Olympics. She made hermarathon debut at the 2008Osaka Ladies Marathon and led the race up to the 30 km mark. However, her pacing collapsed soon after that point and she ended up in 19th place with a time of 2:40:54 hours, over fifteen minutes adrift of the winner.[9]
She came back to the half marathon in July 2010 and won at theShibetsu Half Marathon, although her time of 1:12:25 was below her best.[10] Fukushi's track form deteriorated somewhat that year – she attempted to defend her Asian title at the2010 Asian Games but came fourth over 10,000 m and fifth in the 5000 m. She anchored theKyoto team to victory at theInter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden in January 2011, increasing her team's lead in the final 10 km leg of the race.[11]
Her 2011 season began with a third career win at the Marugame Half Marathon.[12] Her main competition that year was the2011 Chicago Marathon, where she was among the leaders at the halfway point and went on to take third place in a new personal best time of 2:24:38 hours.[13] In her first race of 2012, she was the pre-race favourite for the Osaka Ladies Marathon but finished seventh after a slow second half.[14] Having missed out on Olympic selection for the marathon, she focused on the track instead. She was runner-up in both the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the Japanese Championships and was selected to run both events at the2012 London Olympics. She placed tenth in the 10,000 m final, but failed to progress beyond the heats in the shorter distance.[15]
Fukushi returned to the marathon at the start of 2013 and she was leading with two kilometres to go at the Osaka Women's Marathon. She faltered badly in the final stages, turning a 19-second lead to 23-second deficit behindTetyana Hamera-Shmyrko. Still, her runner-up finish in 2:24:21 hours was a personal best.[16] This gained her selection for Japan for the2013 World Championships in Athletics marathon, where she won her first major medal over the distance – a bronze. Although she was aged 31, she was the youngest of the medallists alongsideEdna Kiplagat andValeria Straneo.[17]
Her foremost race the following season was the2014 Berlin Marathon, but her time of 2:26:24.7 hours only brought her sixth place in the high calibre contest. She did not compete at a major tournament for a whole year, finally returning for the2015 Chicago Marathon, where she was fourth. She aimed to make theJapanese Olympic marathon team and assured her place with a victory at theOsaka Women's Marathon. She defeated the opposition by over six minutes and set a new personal best of 2:22:17 hours, moving her into the Japanese all-time top seven women.[18]
