Marathon runners Hibiki Yoshida and Seira Fuwa competed in the 2026 Hokkaido Marathon held in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, on August 30.
Yoshida took the lead after the 30km mark in the men's division, but his pace dropped sharply past the 37km mark, finishing in 9th place with a time of 2 hours, 13 minutes, and 16 seconds.
On the other hand, Fuwa, taking on her first-ever marathon, finished 2nd in the women's division, securing a ticket to the Marathon Grand Championship (MGC), the qualifying race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The reason both athletes are drawing attention is because they caught people's eyes with their unique appearance. Standing at the starting line, Yoshida had circular tapes the size of 10-yen coins plastered all over his neck, torso, and legs. Fuwa also entered the race with several of the same tapes attached around her neck.
What is going on? Check it out in the on-site video.
(Produced by SBS Digital News | Video by Lee Eui-sun | Design by Yang Hye-min | Source: Yahoo! Japan, NIKKAN SPORTS)
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