Olympic gold medalist Naoko Takahashi has pulled out of Sunday's national women's corporate ekiden championship after being hospitalized with intestinal problems, officials of her Sekisui Chemical team said Thursday.
Takahashi, 29, who became the first Japanese woman to claim an Olympic gold in an athletics event after winning the women's marathon at last year's Sydney Olympics, entered a Chiba hospital for an examination after having blood in her stool after practice Tuesday.
According to her management company IMG, Takahashi is thought to have been suffering from stress and fatigue, resulting in suspected diverticular disease of the colon.
Takahashi is expected to be discharged from hospital next week and sidelined until recovering.
In her full first marathon since her triumph in Sydney, Takahashi became the first woman to go under 2 hours, 20 minutes, winning the Berlin Marathon in 2:19:44 in late September.
Her world best time, however, stood for only just seven days as Kenya's Catherine Ndereba ran the Chicago Marathon in 2:18:47 Oct. 7.
Takahashi has kept a busy schedule since winning the gold in Sydney, making many public appearances and also filming several television commercials.