Kayoko Fukushi earned a place at this summer's Athens Olympics by winning the women's 10,000 meters on the opening day of the athletics national championships in Tottori on Friday.
Fukushi, who competed in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races at last year's World Championships in Paris, clinched her third straight national title by clocking 31 minutes, 32.09 seconds at Fuse prefectural stadium, well inside the Olympic qualification standard of 31:45.00 set by the International Amateur Athletics Federation.
Megumi Tanaka came home in second in 31:34.01 while Harumi Hiroyama took third in 31:34.08.