Today, we have announced the entire elite and wheelchair elite, including the international field, of the Tokyo Marathon 2021.
Note, Japanese elite and elite wheelchair fields were previously announced on February 4.

■Tokyo Marathon 2021 Elite Field

To see the full lists of the marathon elite field, click here.

■Race Preview

Tokyo Marathon Race Director Tadaaki Hayano

The Tokyo Marathon will return within an ongoing pandemic. I would like to thank everyone taking part in organizing this event for the unforgettable effort and support. Also, we will adopt and initiate thorough preventive measures, and I would like to thank everyone for the understanding and cooperation.

Since the postponement of the Tokyo Marathon 2021, I have been pondering what sort of race I want it to be, and how to shape the elite field. I have always aimed to create a world top-level race, and therefore, after thorough consideration, I have settled on creating a high-standard race. I am proud to present the men and women world record holders, along with a line of world's top athletes never seen before in the history of the Tokyo Marathon.

In the men's, the 2:01:39 world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya will run the Tokyo Marathon for the first time. Two-consecutive Olympic gold medalist, from Rio 2016 to Tokyo 2020, he has expressed through a video message sent to us that he hopes to send a positive message in these challenging times to all through his running. If he makes the halfway point around 60 minutes to 61 minutes and 20 seconds, we may be able to witness a new world record in history.

To read the full story, click here.

■Wheelchair Elite Field

To see the full lists of the wheelchair marathon elite field, click here.

■Wheelchair Race Preview

Tokyo Marathon Wheelchair Race Director Masazumi Soejima

It's difficult to determine how the elite wheelchair race will take its turn at the Tokyo Marathon 2021. It will be an exciting race, as nobody can guess the race outcome and the winner.

Due to COVID-19, five of the major events were squeezed in last fall over the course of six weeks. On top of that, the Tokyo Paralympic Marathon was held on September 5, and the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon, where both world and national records were established, was held on November 21. The Tokyo Marathon 2021 was initially scheduled for October 17, 2021, but with its
postponement to March 6, 2022, the event will take place for the first time in two years.

Different from previous years, we will be inviting much fewer international athletes due to COVID-19 and increased travel stress on the athletes. Therefore, the Japanese athletes will take over eighty percent of the elite field. This is the reason why I said in the beginning that it is difficult to determine this year's race,
because it's normally the international athletes who take the lead.

Another consideration that we have to pay attention to is partial course changes due to road constructions. Especially the two left turns soon after the start will make a big difference. Normally, when coming into a corner, athletes will reduce the speed, then increase it back after making a turn.
Thus, athletes who have strong thrust at the start will have the advantage at turns, because they tend to have greater strength to raise the speed back up more quickly. We may see some athletes opening up a huge lead even from the start.

To read the full story, click here.