Honami Maeda, Japan's new women's marathon national record holder, says she needs to keep improving her speed to compete with the world's top runners in what could be her second Olympics this summer in Paris.
"There is a difference in speed between overseas runners and me," Maeda said during a news conference in Osaka on Monday, a day after she broke Olympic gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi's 19-year-old record at the Osaka Women's Marathon. "I'll see how I can narrow the gap. I think I can improve my time further."
Maeda took a major step toward earning an Olympic spot by finishing the Osaka race second behind Ethiopia's Workenesh Edesa and shattering Noguchi's record set in September 2005 in Berlin by 13 seconds.