Yoko Shibui, who won the Berlin Marathon in a Japanese record time on Sunday, is aiming to run in next year's World Championships with a plan to enter a qualifying race in January or March, her coach said Tuesday.
Yoko Shibui, winner of the Berlin Marathon, arrives at Narita Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
Shibui is now setting her sights on the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.
Hideo Suzuki indicated after returning to Japan with Shibui that she is likely to choose the Osaka race in January or the Nagoya race in March after taking a few months off. Both races are among the qualifiers for the World Championships in Helsinki in August.
"Our team has other runners looking to run in the World Championships and we'll need to decide who runs in which qualifying races," Suzuki said. "Shibui was not fully fit this time and she can run under 2 hours, 18 minutes."
Shibui won the Berlin race in 2:19:41, becoming the fourth fastest female marathoner in history and breaking the Japan record of 2:19:46 set by Naoko Takahashi set in Berlin three years ago.
In a press conference held at Narita Airport, Shibui did not reveal her race plans for next year, in which she may compete head-on with Sydney Olympic champion Takahashi or Athens Olympic gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi.
"I find it hard to run if I pay attention to others. I'll try not to think too much about other runners," Shibui said.