| Yuka Suzuki | |
| Native Name: | 鈴木優花 |
| Native Name Lang: | Japanese |
| Birth Date: | 1999 9, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Nakasen, Akita (Daisen, Akita) |
| Education: | Nakasen JHS Omagari HS |
| Employer: | Dai-ichi Life |
| Height: | 165 cm[1] |
| Country: | Japan |
| Sport: | Long-distance running |
| Event: | 1500 metres – Marathon |
| Coach: | Sachiko Yamashita |
is a Japanese long-distance runner. In 2019, she won the gold medals in the women's half marathon at the Summer Universiade held in Naples, Italy.[2] The youngest participant[3] dominated the Marathon Grand Championship in October 2023,[4] [5] [6] guaranteeing her selection for Olympic Games in Paris,[7] in a personal best time of 2:24:09 which she then subsequently beat in 2024 Paris Olympics by 7 seconds despite the hilly course. She is good at running uphills.[8] [9]
Suzuki was born in Nakasen, Akita Prefecture on September 14, 1999, the eldest daughter of educator Shigeki Suzuki and his wife Yasuko.[10] At the age of three she completed a 3-kilometer run without stopping. Suzuki also played basketball as a teenager in her home prefecture of Akita which is famous for its Hoosier Hysteria-like state of basketball fanaticism.[11] After graduating from Omagari High School, she entered Daito Bunka University and gradually became a standout runner.[12] Suzuki was the marathon record holder for Japanese university students, with a time of 2:25:02 achieved on 13 March 2022 at the Nagoya Women's Marathon - her very first marathon.[13] [14]
Key:
| Representing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Inter-University Athletics | Hiratsuka, Japan | 1st | 5000m | 15:46.84 (NGR) | |
| 2019 | Matsue Ladies Half Marathon | Matsue, Japan | 1st | Half marathon | 1:11:27 | |
| Naples, Italy | 1st | Half marathon | 1:14:10 | |||
| Nijmegen, Netherlands | 4th | 15 km | 48.48 | |||
| 2021 | Inter-University Athletics | Kumagaya, Japan | 1st | 10000 m | 32:04.58 (NGR) | |
| 2022 | Nagoya, Japan | 5th | Marathon | 2:25:02 (Japanese Collegiate Record)[15] | ||
| 2023 | Nagoya, Japan | 6th | Marathon | 2:25:46 | ||
| Tokyo, Japan | 1st | Marathon | 2:24:09 | |||
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 6th | Marathon | 2:24:02 | |