OSAKA, Japan, (Jan 26) — Uganda’s Stella Chesang surged ahead in the final kilometres to win the 2026 Osaka Women’s Marathon on Sunday (25), defeating a pair of Ethiopians and a strong field, clocking 2 hours 19 minutes 31 seconds at the World Athletics Platinum Label race.
Chesang, the 2018 Commonwealth Games 10,000 meters champion, broke away from her rivals with two kilometres to go, holding off Ethiopia’s Bedatu Hirpa and defending champion Workenesh Edesa, who owns a personal best of 2:17:55, but fell well short of that mark on Sunday. Hirpa finished second in 2:19:54, while compatriot Edesa took third in 2:19:56, faster than the 2:21:00 she ran to win last year’s race.
Japan’s Mikuni Yada thrilled home fans by placing fourth in 2:19:57 — the fastest debut marathon ever by a Japanese woman, according to World Athletics — a performance that moves her to sixth on the national all-time list.
Nearly 200 runners completed the Osaka Women’s Marathon, which produced four runners inside of 2:20:00 and a race that remains one of Japan’s premier annual women’s marathons and a key fixture on the international road running circuit.
Osaka Women’s Marathon Results
- Stella Chesang (UGA) — 2:19:31
- Bedatu Hirpa (ETH) — 2:19:54
- Workenesh Edesa (ETH) — 2:19:56
- Mikuni Yada (JPN) — 2:19:57 (fastest Japanese debut)
- Mao Uesugi (JPN) — 2:23:07
- Rie Kawauchi (JPN) — 2:24:16
- Mizuki Matsuda (JPN) — 2:26:16
- Nanaka Izawa (JPN) — 2:27:45
- Miyuki Nishimura (JPN) — 2:28:21
- Madoka Nakano (JPN) — 2:29:29
- Miyu Fukada (JPN) — 2:34:41
- Yuki Toyoda (JPN) — 2:37:18
- Miyu Moriuchi (JPN) — 2:37:50
- Miu Yagi (JPN) — 2:38:14
- Saki Shimada (JPN) — 2:38:22
- Yumeno Yamazaki (JPN) — 2:38:22
- Kotomi Tsubokura (JPN) — 2:38:28
- Mizuki Oda (JPN) — 2:38:36
- Chisa Endo (JPN) — 2:39:22
- Tomomi Nakajima (JPN) — 2:39:53
- Ayumi Yokota (JPN) — 2:39:53
- Yuka Tanaka (JPN) — 2:41:04
- Mayo Onishi (JPN) — 2:41:16
- Fuka Hirokawa (JPN) — 2:42:24
- Miyuki Shibata (JPN) — 2:42:58
- Namika Sugasaki (JPN) — 2:43:17
- Natsumi Kawai (JPN) — 2:43:51
- Yu Nasuno (JPN) — 2:44:00
- Tomomi Nakayasu (JPN) — 2:44:26
- Brooke Williams (AUS) — 2:45:02
Click for the full results of the race this past weekend.
