Sydney Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi, who suffered a fractured ankle in September, said Saturday she will hold a training camp in Japan in January in a bid to return to a marathon race next spring.
"I'm ready to hold a training camp anytime soon. Some people say it's impossible for me to run in a marathon race next spring but hearing them say so makes me feel like trying," Takahashi said in a talk show in Hitachiomiya.
"I'd like to take the fastest route from the injury to a comeback," Takahashi said, indicating she may run in the Nagoya International Women's Marathon in March, one of the domestic qualifying races for next year's World Championships in Helsinki. Takahashi, who failed to make the Japan team for the Athens Olympics this past summer, fractured her right ankle during training in her base camp in Boulder, Colo., in late September.