Atsushi Satō

Atsushi Satō at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin at kilometer 40

Atsushi Satō ( Japanese 佐藤 敦 之 Satō Atsushi ; born May 8, 1978 in Aizu-Wakamatsu ) is a Japanese long-distance runner .

In 2002 he was eighth in the World Half Marathon Championships , and in the marathon of the World Athletics Championships 2003 in Paris / Saint-Denis, he finished tenth. In Chiba he was part of a marathon relay that set the Asian record that is still valid today with a time of 1:58:58 h on November 23, 2005 .

At the road running world championships in Udine in 2007 over the half marathon distance he was ninth in 1:00:25 h. Both his end time and his 15 km split time of 42:36 min were Asian records. Third in the Fukuoka Marathon of the same year, he set a personal best with 2:07:13 h and was won by his association for the Olympic Games 2008 nominated in Beijing. There he was the last of 76 runners to cross the finish line.

In the marathon of the World Athletics Championships 2009 in Berlin, he finished sixth with 2:12:05 h and was therefore the best non-African.

Atsushi Satō is 1.69 m tall and weighs 54 kg. In 2007 he married the middle-distance runner and three-time Asian champion Miho Sugimori ( 杉 森 美 保 ; * 1978).

Web links

• Atsushi Sato in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Athlete portrait on marathoninfo.free.fr