Shigeru Aburaya, a strong Athens Olympics candidate for Japan, is leaning toward opting out of the Feb. 8 Tokyo International Marathon and will make the official announcement early next month, his coach Yasushi Sakaguchi said Saturday.
Aburaya, who placed fifth in the past two World Championships, is considering choosing the Lake Biwa Marathon in March as his final qualifying race for this summer's Olympics. His other option would be to wait to be named to the national team without taking part in a qualifier.