"VAN" (Sports Desk - 07.07.2025) :: The Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, officially opened the MOWA Heritage Athletics Exhibition Tokyo 2025 on Sunday (6). The exhibition is being staged for 11 weeks in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) building.
The TMG’s headquarters is a landmark skyscraper complex which, in addition to temporarily hosting the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA), offers visitors a 45th floor public observatory platform with spectacular views across the skyline of Tokyo.
The TMG building is situated just three metro stations – a six-minute journey – away from the National Stadium where the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 will take place from 13-21 September.
Distinguished gathering
The opening ceremony was honoured by an exclusive gathering of invited guests.
In addition to Governor Koike, among those actively participating in the ceremony were World Athletics Council Member Yuko Arimori, 2004 Olympic marathon gold medallist Mizuki Noguchi and Japan’s first world champion Hiromi Taniguchi, the Tokyo 1991 marathon winner.
The Japanese team was represented by Naoki Koyama, who will line up in the marathon during the World Athletics Championships in September. Mitsugi Ogata, President of the WCH Tokyo 25 local organising committee, made up the distinguished cast of participants.
The ceremony began with a welcoming address by Arimori, a two-time Olympic medallist and newly elected President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, who was representing World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.
In response, Governor Koike delivered her welcome on behalf of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Tokyo awarded World Athletics Heritage Plaque
In this prestigious context, World Athletics announced the award of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque to Tokyo, in the category “City”, with Arimori presenting the honour to the Governor. The plaque serves as a lasting tribute to Tokyo’s central role in the development and celebration of athletics worldwide.
In a statement read out by Arimori, World Athletics President Coe commented: "Tokyo's credentials as a World Athletics Heritage City are beyond question. The host to the 1964 and 2020 Olympic Games and the 1991 and 2025 World Athletics Championships, Tokyo has historically been the stage for great competitions and has witnessed numerous world records.
"Bob Hayes, Abebe Bikila, Ann Packer, Betty Cuthbert, Carl Lewis, Mike Powell, Karsten Warholm, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Yulimar Rojas are just a few of the track and field greats, both past and present, whose performances in the Japanese capital have created headlines around the world.
"Annually, 38,000 runners also take to the streets of the Japanese capital. In a country where the marathon race is a sacred sporting tradition, the Tokyo Marathon is rightfully one of the World Marathon Majors.
“Yet among all other reasons, the heroic staging of the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games during the pandemic exemplifies the unique contribution that Tokyo has made to the history of our sport.
“Congratulations, Tokyo, on the award of this exceptionally well-deserved honour.”
Tokyo 1991 to Tokyo 2025
A highlight of this MOWA exhibition is the first-ever public display of the gold, silver and bronze medals from both editions of the World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo. The two sets embody the continuity of Tokyo’s deep-rooted legacy in global athletics and its renewed commitment as host of this year’s championships.
During the ceremony on Sunday, a historic photograph was taken of the two golds, with the Tokyo 1991 medal held by Taniguchi and Arimori alongside Koike and Ogata, who posed with the equivalent from Tokyo 2025.
Arimori donates Olympic shoes to MOWA
Arimori marked the opening of the exhibition by generously donating her Barcelona Olympic Games marathon shoes, which she wore when taking silver in 1992, to the collection of the Museum of World Athletics. She presented her donation to the Governor, who received the shoes on behalf of the MOWA. The shoes will go on display on Monday (7) when the exhibition opens to the public.
Arimori made her marathon debut in 1990 and set a national record on her second attempt. The 1991 World Championships was a turning point in her career, as she finished fourth in the women’s marathon, a performance that set the stage for her global breakthrough.
Reflecting on her personal connection to the World Athletics Championships, Arimori commented: “I remember vividly the great excitement of watching on television the first World Athletics Championships, which were staged in Helsinki in 1983. Then, eight years later, I felt enormous pride when the championships came to Tokyo for the first time.
“I was competing in the marathon and finished fourth, while in second place Sachiko Yamashita took Japan’s first-ever World Championships medal. Then, on the last day of those 1991 championships, Taniguchi courageously won the men’s marathon, Japan’s first-ever gold medal.”
Coached by Yoshio Koide (recipient in 2019 of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the posthumous category of ‘Legend’), Arimori went on to win not only silver at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but bronze four years later in Atlanta, becoming the first Japanese woman to claim two medals in the event. Arimori’s achievements elevated the status of women’s distance running in Japan, and she now serves as a member of the World Athletics Council.
Ribbon cut
Sunday’s ceremony, which included archive footage of the 1991 and 2023 World Athletics Championships and the global victories of Taniguchi and Noguchi, concluded with the Governor and her fellow principal cutting the ribbon to officially open the exhibition.
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