Sydney Olympic gold medalist Naoko Takahashi said Thursday she plans to run in the Tokyo International Women's Marathon for her next full-marathon appearance, one year after making an impressive comeback in the Tokyo meet.
Takahashi, who had earlier indicated the possibility of running in the Hokkaido Marathon in August, has opted to run in the Nov. 19 race in Tokyo with her sights set on next year's world championships and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
"I made this decision only this month and it'll be good for me if I get a ticket for the world championships and then for the Olympics," Takahashi said. "But I'll do my best in Tokyo first and it is my foremost goal."
This year's Tokyo International Women's Marathon serves as a qualifier for the 2007 world championships to be held in Osaka. The top Japanese finisher will qualify on condition that she run under 2 hours, 26 minutes.
The top Japanese finisher with a medal at the world championships will qualify for a place in the Beijing Olympics.
"I have plenty of time for training and hopefully I'll appear in the Tokyo race in good shape," Takahashi said at Narita airport before leaving for her training base in Colorado.
"I haven't run in a world championship race and running in a race in Japan is very meaningful for me," she added.
Takahashi won in Tokyo last year in a comeback from a two-year layoff after a series of injuries. The race was her first since her shock defeat to Ethiopian Elfenesh Alemu in the 2003 Tokyo race cost her an opportunity to defend her Olympic title in Athens.