Yuka Ando, who clocked Japan's fourth-best time in her debut race on Sunday, was named among six marathon runners by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations on Friday to compete at this summer's IAAF World Athletics Championships in London.
The 23-year-old, one of the three female runners selected, logged 2 hours, 21 minutes, 36 seconds at the Nagoya Women's Marathon for a runner-up finish, setting a record for the fastest time by a first-time Japanese female runner in the process.
"I will be carrying the nation on my back unlike before. I feel responsible," she said. "I mustn't be satisfied with the record and will keep giving my best setting much higher targets."