User:Harrias/2020 Tokyo Marathon

The 2020 Tokyo Marathon (東京マラソン2020) was the fourteenth edition of the annual marathon race in Tokyo, and was held on Sunday, 1 March. A World Athletics Platinum Label Road Race, it was the first World Marathon Majors event held that year. Last year's winner, Birhanu Legese, successfully defended his title by winning with a time of 2:04:15, while Lonah Chemtai Salpeter set a new course record as well as a new Israeli national record by winning with a time of 2:17:45. The men's wheelchair race was won by Japanese racer Tomoki Suzuki, and the women's wheelchair race was won by Japanese racer Tsubasa Kina.

Background
The Tokyo Marathon was first held in 2007, and has been held annually since; the 2020 marathon was the fourteenth edition of the race. Since 2012, the race has been one of the World Marathon Majors, along with the Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London and New York City marathons. Typically the race is held as a mass participation event; in 2019, 330,271 runners applied to take part, with 37,694 entrants and 35,460 finishers. In 2020, the race was planned to feature around 38,000 runners, but was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the organisers hoped to be able to hold the race with a range of safety precautions, but after a case of COVID-19 was reported in Tokyo, they cancelled the mass participation race, and restricted it to elite athletes: 176 runners and 30 wheelchair athletes.

The marathon course starts at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku, and travels east towards the Sumida River. It utilises a number of out-and-back sections, and although predominantly flat, involves some undulations between the 16 and 25 km points. The route passes some of Tokyo's popular tourist locations, such as the Kaminarimon, Tokyo Skytree and the Tokyo Tower. It finishes at Tokyo Station.

Preview
The official race preview highlighted Birhanu Legese, who had won the 2019 Tokyo Marathon, as the favourite in the men's race. Legese had also finished second at the 2019 Berlin Marathon in 2:02:48, making him the third fastest marathoner at the time. The Tokyo race director, Tad Hayano, hoped that Legese would be able to complete the 2020 race in under 2 hours and 3 minutes, and provided a pacing team to help achieve this target. Three other Ethiopian runners were mentioned in the official preview: Getaneh Molla, who had won the 2019 Dubai Marathon; Sisay Lemma, who had finished third at Berlin; and Asefa Mengstu. Two Kenyans were also highlighted: Dickson Chumba, who had won the Tokyo marathon twice before, and Amos Kipruto, who had finished third at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. The race also served as an opportunity for a Japanese runner to secure a place at the 2020 Summer Olympics: Suguru Osako provisionally held the country's third spot, but if the leading Japanese runner finished in a time quicker than 2:05:50, they would guarantee their place at the games. World Athletics speculated that Osako and Yuta Shitara were the most likely contenders for the place.