Tokyo Marathon 2026: Champions Return and Wheelchair Athletes Take Center Stage
The tokyo marathon 2026 opens this weekend with defending champions Tadese Takele and Sutume Asefa Kebede back in the field, and a first-ever wheelchair fan meeting held Feb. 27 at Tokyo Big Sight that highlighted the depth of elite competition two days before the race.
Tokyo Marathon 2026 fan meeting welcomed wheelchair athletes
Organizers staged the inaugural fan meeting on Friday, Feb. 27, inviting five male and five female elite wheelchair athletes to meet roughly 150 fans selected by lottery at Tokyo Big Sight. The session began with a greeting from Wheelchair Race Director Masazumi Soejima, who told the audience he expected a "thrilling race" on the 42. 195km course.
Athletes posed for commemorative photos and then split into talk sessions where two athletes from each category answered questions about race routines and equipment. SUZUKI, Tomoki (Toyota Motor Corporation) said he is aiming for a third straight win in the men's wheelchair race and described equipment tweaks — including new gloves — as part of his preparation. Marcel Hug of Switzerland, the world record holder, said his training has gone well and he was "in great shape. " In the women's field, Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland, the world record holder, said she was "in top condition" as she seeks a second consecutive Tokyo victory. The event closed with a prize drawing and later media interviews where athletes called the meeting "a fresh approach" to growing the wheelchair racing fanbase.
Defending champions and elite fields to face off on March 1
Tadese Takele and Sutume Asefa Kebede return to defend the titles they won in the Japanese capital. Takele clocked 2: 03: 23 when he won last year, and Kebede holds the course record of 2: 15: 55 set in 2024 and followed with 2: 16: 31 in 2025. Both will try to rebound from disappointing showings at the World Championships the previous summer when they aim to make amends on Sunday, March 1.
The men's field includes athletes with very fast personal bests: Timothy Kiplagat has a 2: 02: 55 PB, and Benson Kipruto ran 2: 02: 16 when he broke the course record in 2024. Other men to watch named for the weekend include Alexander Mutiso, Milkesa Mengesha, Vincent Ngetich and Selemon Barega. On the women's side, contenders listed for the race include Brigid Kosgei, who won Shanghai in 2: 16: 36, Hawi Feysa, who won Chicago in 2: 14: 57, and Rosemary Wanjiru, the 2023 Tokyo champion who won Berlin last year.
The tokyo marathon 2026 also assembles a women’s field stacked with recent major winners and athletes high on the world all-time lists, with several entrants inside the top world rankings and multiple athletes carrying recent major-marathon victories into the race.
How to watch and what’s next
For viewers on the U. S. east coast, Tokyo is 14 hours ahead, which places the live action in the late-evening hours Saturday night. The race will be streamed live on FloTrack beginning at 7 p. m. EST on Feb. 28, with a replay available after the event. The marathon itself is scheduled for Sunday, March 1, when elite starters will assemble on the course laid out from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office to Tokyo Station.
Organizers and athletes now turn their focus to race day: elite starters will line up on March 1 and wheelchair athletes who met fans on Feb. 27 will race the full 42. 195km course two days after their fan event.
