Naoko takahashi biography for kids

          Following her win at the Olympics, Naoko Takahashi became an overnight celebrity in Japan.

        1. Naoko Takahashi, the first woman to run a marathon in under two hours 20 minutes, has become the latest athletics star to generously donate a competition item.
        2. Naoko Takahashi (高橋 尚子, Takahashi Naoko, born May 6, ) is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner.
        3. Naoko Takahashi has become the latest athletics star to generously donate a competition item from their career to the World Athletics Heritage Collection.
        4. Naoko Takahashi, the Olympic marathon champion, is to star in her own comic strip series as part of a deal which makes her the first track athlete in Japan.

          5. Naoko Takahashi (高橋 尚子, Takahashi Naoko, born May 6, ) is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner.!

          Naoko Takahashi facts for kids

          For the artist and musician, see NaoKo TakaHashi.

          Naoko Takahashi(高橋 尚子, Takahashi Naoko, born May 6, 1972) is a retired Japaneselong-distance runner and Olympicgold medal-winning marathoner.

          She won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and at the 2001 Berlin Marathon she became the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2 hours and 20 minutes.

          Biography

          Early years

          Takahashi was born in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture on May 6, 1972, the eldest daughter of educator Yoshiaki Takahashi and his wife Shigeko.

          Her father was a kindergarten principal. She is a second cousin-niece of chemist and Nobel Prize laureate Hideki Shirakawa.

          Competitive career

          Takahashi started running track in junior high school, and placed second in the 1500 meter and third in the 3000 meter races at the Japanese national collegiate championships while attending Osaka Gakuin University.

          Following graduation, she sought out the prominent distance runnin