Yuko Arimori

Olympic medal record
Women's track and field
Silver	1992 Barcelona	Marathon
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	Marathon

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Arimori".

Yuko Arimori (有森 裕子, Arimori Yūko, born December 17, 1966 in Okayama) is a Japanese professional marathon runner and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). She was born on December 17, 1966 in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. She married Gabriel Pattillo Wilson on January 14, 1998 in Boulder, Colorado, United States.

Arimori competed for Japan in the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain in the marathon where she won the silver medal with a time of 2:32:49, eight seconds behind Russian Valentina Yegorova who ran the race in 2:32:41. This hard-fought race was the closest finishing time in Olympic history for men or women at that time. At the Atlanta Olympics four years later, Arimori returned to the Olympic marathon, where she won the bronze medal and finished behind Valentina Yegorova for a second time. Yegorova ran the race in 2:28:05. Arimori's time was 2:28:39. Although both runners ran four minutes faster than their previous Olympic race, they were beaten back by Ethiopian runner Fatuma Roba, who completed the race and won the gold medal with a time of 2:26:05.

Arimori is considered to be the first Japanese female “professional” athlete. She was the first woman granted professional status by the Japanese Amateur Athletic Federation (JAAF), the nation’s governing track and field association. She was granted this status in 1996, following her second and final appearance at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Japan
1990	Osaka International Ladies Marathon	Osaka, Japan	6th	Marathon	2:32:51
1991	Osaka International Ladies Marathon	Osaka, Japan	2nd	Marathon	2:28:01
1991	1991 World Championships in Athletics	Tokyo, Japan	4th	Marathon	2:31:08
1992	1992 Summer Olympics	Barcelona, Spain	2nd	Marathon	2:32:49
1995	Hokkaido Marathon	Sapporo, Japan	1st	Marathon	2:29:17
1996	1996 Summer Olympics	Atlanta, Georgia, USA	3rd	Marathon	2:28:39
1999	Boston Marathon	Boston, Massachusetts, USA	3rd	Marathon	2:26:39
2000	Osaka International Ladies Marathon	Osaka, Japan	9th	Marathon	2:31:22
2000	New York City Marathon	New York City, New York, USA	10th	Marathon	2:31:12
2001	Gold Coast Marathon	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia	1st	Marathon	2:35:40
2001	Tokyo International Women's Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	10th	Marathon	2:31:00
2007	Tokyo Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	5th	Marathon	2:52:45

References

• sports-reference