Sydney Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi is among the 16 invitees to next month's Tokyo International Women's Marathon, officials of the Japan Association of the Athletics Federations (JAAF) said Thursday.
Takahashi, who owns the national record of 2 hours, 19 minutes, 46 seconds, will make her Tokyo marathon debut in the Nov. 17 race that also serves as a qualifier for the 2003 world championships in Paris.
It will be her first race in Japan since the Nagoya International Women's Marathon in March 2000.