Athens Olympic women's marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi is joining a growing list of gold medalists who have shunned the new marketing program being promoted by the Japanese Olympic Committee, her coach said Saturday.
Nobuyuki Fujita said Noguchi will opt out of the JOC's "Symbol Athlete" program, which is aimed at luring sponsorship deals with the use of top athletes' image rights controlled by the national Olympic body.
"If she signs a deal for the program, she would have to give some of her time to sponsors and it would likely affect her training schedule," Fujita said. "I genuinely want her to devote herself to running."
Last month, Kosuke Kitajima, who won the men's 100- and 200-meter breaststroke gold medals in Athens, made clear that he will not sign a contract for the JOC's marketing program.
Gold medal-winning judoka Ryoko Tani and Tadahiro Nomura have also declined a JOC offer to join the plan, while hammer throw champion Koji Murofushi has yet to give a clear answer.
The new program will be introduced early next year and the JOC hopes to sign deals with around 15 athletes by offering a "cooperation fee" of up to 20 million yen a year.
Part of the revenue from the new sponsorship program is designed to be distributed to national sports federations.
Noguchi's decision will leave her out of the JOC's control and free to engage in commercial activities beginning next year.