Yoshio Koide, who coached Naoko Takahashi to the women's marathon gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, said Wednesday he will leave the Sekisui Chemical athletics club at the end of the month.
Koide said he will concentrate on coaching at an athletics club in Chiba Prefecture, which he set up independently in June last year for the purpose of developing young talent into world-class athletes beyond the framework of activities by corporate teams.