TOKYO, 22 November 2004 — Unheralded Bruna Genovese of Italy overhauled the pre-race favorites in the last two kilometers (mile) to capture her first victory at the Tokyo international women’s marathon yesterday.
Genovese, 28, snatched the lead by overtaking defending champion Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia and world bronze medalist Masako Chiba of Japan at the 40.7km mark before crossing the finishing line in two hours 26 minutes 34 seconds. Japan’s Kiyoko Shimahara also outran the two favorites to finish second in 2:26:43, followed by Alemu in 2:26:58 and Chiba in 2:27:02. Asia’s fastest time-holder Sun Yingjie of China, also the third-fastest female marathon runner of all-time, slipped from the front-running group at 27km to finish a disappointing sixth in 2:29:24.
After two pace-setters, Alina Ivanova of Russia and Restituta Joseph of Tanzania, abandoned the race at the 15km and half points, Alemu and Chiba set the pace leaving Sun behind at 27km and Gete Wami of Ethiopia at 30km.
The two women ran shoulder-to-shoulder for the rest of the race and Alemu spurted for the lead shortly after the 39km mark, only to see Genovese strongly go ahead of her at the last part of the five-kilometer uphill road.
