Osaki out to earn ticket to Beijing

Satoshi Osaki certainly sympathizes with Arata Fujiwara. But when it comes to making the Olympic team, all's fair in love and marathons.
Four years after being passed over for an Olympic spot, Osaki will attempt to earn a place on Japan's team to Beijing with a strong showing at today's Lake Biwa Marathon.

"Getting a ticket to Beijing is the main objective," Osaki said a press conference here Saturday for the last of the three domestic qualifiers for Japanese runners. "To get that, I'm not thinking about the time. I'm looking to win, or at worst be the top Japanese."
Among those expected to press Osaki, the 2006 Asian Games bronze medalist, for the top spot among the Japanese will be Tomoyuki Sato and Kensuke Takahashi, along with general-entry runners Kenji Noguchi, Takashi Horiguchi, Masakazu Fujiwara and Ryoji Matsushita.
While winning the race would all but clinch an Olympic berth, that might be too tall a task for this group.
One of the strongest foreign contingents in years includes Kenyan-born Qatari Mubarak Hassan Shami and Eritrea's Yared Asmeron, the silver medalist and fourth-place finishers from last summer's IAAF world championships in Osaka, respectively.
The Osaka race has been Shami's lone loss in six career marathons that includes the 2006 Asiad. He ran a career-best 2 hours 7 minutes 19 seconds in winning Paris last year and said he was aiming for a time in the 2:06s "if the weather conditions are good."
Spain's Jose Rios, a former two-time Lake Biwa winner, and 2005 Fukuoka Marathon champion Dmytro Baranovsky of Ukraine add to the luster of the race around the southern tip of Japan's largest lake.
Rios and Baranovsky also have personal bests under 2:08, while Osaki has the top time among the Japanese with the 2:08:46 he ran in 2004.
That was when he came from nowhere to finish second in Tokyo and throw a wrench into the selection process for the Athens Olympics. Citing a lack of experience, Osaki was left off the Japan squad.
Now Fujiwara finds himself in almost the exact same boat at Osaki.
Unheralded going into last month's Tokyo Marathon, Fujiwara placed second as the top Japanese with a near-identical time--2:08:40--which has become the standard that today's field will be trying to top.
With three spots available, Atsushi Sato all but clinched one by clocking 2:07:13 in finishing third last December in Fukuoka. Another berth is expected to go to 2005 world bronze medalist Tsuyoshi Ogata, the highest-finishing Japanese at the Osaka worlds in fifth.
Osaki, who finished one place back in sixth, acknowledged a sense of relief when Fujiwara emerged as the top Japanese in Tokyo.
"Four years ago I ran in Tokyo and I wasn't picked," Osaki said. "Now I have four years of experience under my belt and I don't want to lose out to Fujiwara."
Rios, who finished a disappointing 16th at the Osaka worlds, said the race will be serving his qualifier for the Spanish team to Beijing.
"As the field is very strong, that means that times will be fast and that's what I want," said Rios, who set his career-best of 2:07:42 in winning in 2004. "First is to win, and second is a personal best."


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