OSAKA, Japan, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- In the 38th Osaka International Women's Marathon held in the western Japanese city of Osaka on Sunday, Ethiopian runner Fatuma Sado won the championship, followed by Japan's Rei Ohara.
The 27-year-old Ethiopian athlete finished the 42.195km course in two hours, 25 minutes and 39 seconds, her first victory in the race which went through the metropolitan area.
Ohara, 28 years old, finished runner-up in two hours, 25 minutes and 46 seconds, the top result among Japanese contenders.
She briefly surpassed Sado nearing the 40km mark but fell to the second place for the rest of the course.
Ohara was followed by Bornes Jepkirui from Kenya with two hours, 26 minutes and one second.
He Yinli, 30 years old and the only contestant from China who participated in the race, finished ninth, completing the course in two hours, 31 minutes and 14 seconds.
Japan's Kayoko Fukushi, the winner of Osaka women's marathon in 2016, suffered from a tumble which left her knees bleeding, and dropped out of the competition after the 35km mark.
Altogether, 423 athletes took part in the race, which started and finished at Yanmar Stadium Nagai, in the cold windy weather.
The Osaka event also served as a qualifier among Japanese runners for this year's Marathon Grand Championship, which will decide who can complete on behalf of Japan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
