When young Yoko Shibui came to the lime light in 2001by running the fastest debut marathon time of 2:23:11 at Osaka Ladies marathon, peolpe expected something huge.  She popularized a phrase, "I will Athens (to be used as a verb)!"  But it's almost a Murphy's Law that; the more grand the entrance is, the rougher the road that follows might be...  That, unfortunately, was the case with Shibui.  She sank to the distance 9th in the Olympic Trial for Athens.  She cried her eyes out, claiming that the pace was too slow.  She bounced back and ran 2:19:41 to become the fourth woman to dip under 2:20, setting the national record for the marathon.  But disappointment after disappointment followed; she failed to make the Japanese team for Helsinki World Chamiponships, then Osaka World Championships, and finally Bijing Olympic team while her teammate, Reiko Tosa, became the first member of thte Japanese team to Beijing by winning a bronze medal at Osaka WC marathon.  Shibui was so disappointed that she announced that she would not even try to make the team in other distances (5 and 10k). 

Shibui is a very emotional runner.  When she's hot, she's hot!  While coach Suzuki patiently waited for Shibui's urge to come back, Shibui had some time to look at herself in a lonely road in Kumming, China.  While her teammate, Tosa, was piling up mileage in the highland of Boulder, CO, Shibui sharpened her speed in China.  She openned up her track season with 31:19, narrowly nipped by a Japan-residing Kenyan, Firres (spelling?) for the second place on 4/27.  Then she came back and ran 31:21 on 5/17 by winning East Japan Corporate Team Championships virtually all by herself, followed the next day by easily winning 5000m as well in 15:20. 

On the openning night of Japanese Track and Field Olympic Trial (National Championships) last night (6/27), Shibui confidently won 10000m in a thrilling sprint finish in 31:15.  The current national record holder, the Japanese track specialist, Kayoko Fukushi, who had a painful marathon baptism at this year's Osaka Ladies marathon where she fell numerous times before she literally crawled to the finish in 2:40:54, was 3rd.  Not even hours after Shibui's win, I receieved an e-mail from coach Shigeharu Watanabe, team Mitsui Sumitomo's head coach.  He said, after being beaten in the final sprint in April, they've been working on Shibui's sprint ability by employing Lydiard hill training.  It surely paid off.  Now team Mitsui Sumitomo has 2 runners going to Bijing.  Reiko Tosa and Yoko Shibui are known as "two peas in a pod" by their teammates.  It should work to their advantage to have each other in Beijing!  It surely is shaping up to be a very exciting Olympic Games to me personally as well as Lydiard Foundation. (picture from sanspo.com)

Now the entire race is available at flotrack here.  Thanks, Brett of Tokyo!