NYRR Media Center

Suguru Osako, the former Japanese national record holder in the marathon, will be making his TCS New York City Marathon debut this year and will aim for a top-five finish in his fourth different Abbott World Marathon Majors race. Previously, he was third at the 2017 Boston Marathon in 2:10:28, third at the 2018 Chicago Marathon in 2:05:50, and fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon in 2:05:29. His Chicago and Tokyo performances were national records at the time, with the latter holding as the Japanese record until Kengo Suzuki broke it in 2021.

Born in Tokyo, Osako established himself as a national contender by high school; he was the fastest runner at the Japanese High School Ekiden Championship in 2010. That same year, he earned himself a spot at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships and also won the Ageo City Half Marathon.

Over the next decade, he won a silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in the 10,000 meters, and then competed in the same distance at the Rio 2016 Olympics before moving up to the marathon. 

In 2021, he finished sixth on his home soil at the Tokyo Olympic marathon.

Upon moving to the United States, Osako taught himself English by watching the Disney Channel with his daughter. When training in the U.S., he splits his time between Portland, and Flagstaff, Ariz.