Olympian Yuko Arimori picked as 1st female chief of Japan athletics ass'n
Yuko Arimori, who won two Olympic marathon medals in the 1990s, was selected Wednesday as president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, becoming the first female to serve in the role.
Arimori, 58, is also the first Japanese Olympian to lead the association, which marks this year the 100th anniversary of its founding. Her elevation from vice president of the organization comes ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
"I'll work to make track and field appealing so more people love and enjoy it," Arimori told a press conference in Tokyo.
"I have learned that sports can help motivate people to live and seek peace. I'll play any role I can to make athletics something in which people can find important values," she said.
Arimori, a native of Okayama Prefecture, was a runner-up at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and placed third at the Atlanta Games four years later, becoming the first Japanese female to win Olympic medals in athletics at two games in a row.
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