Sydney Olympic gold medalist Naoko Takahashi will not compete in the Nagoya International Women's Marathon next month, the final qualifier for this summer's Athens Olympics, her management office announced Wednesday.
The decision leaves Takahashi's chances of being picked for the Olympics hanging in the balance after she finished second in Tokyo last November and skipped last month's Osaka meet -- the other two Olympic qualifiers for Japanese women runners.
The list of marathon runners who will represent Japan in Athens will be announced after the March 14 Nagoya meet.