Osaka Marathon 2026 Results: Ibrahim Hassan Sets Course and National Record With 2:05:20 Victory

Keep every race result in one place. RunningLog automatically imports your runs from Strava, building your complete race history and tracking your marathon progression. Whether you ran Osaka or are planning your next 42.195km, try RunningLog free today.

Djibouti’s Ibrahim Hassan and Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba produced commanding performances to win the 14th edition of the Osaka Marathon on Sunday, February 22, 2026, with both setting new course records. Hassan clocked 2:05:20 to also break his own national record, while Dibaba ran 2:21:44 to rewrite the women’s course mark. The World Athletics Platinum Label race drew over 30,000 runners under clear skies and mild conditions in Japan’s third-largest city, with the event also serving as a key qualifier for the Marathon Grand Championship (MGC) — the selection race for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Men’s Race: Hassan Dominates for Djiboutian History

Ibrahim Hassan — also known as Bouh Ibrahim — delivered the standout performance of the day, running 2:05:20 to smash the Osaka course record by 17 seconds and break his own Djiboutian national record in the process. The 29-year-old, who finished 14th at the 2024 Paris Olympics and served as Djibouti’s flag bearer during the closing ceremony, has built a strong connection with Japanese road racing, having previously won the 2023 Beppu-Oita Marathon in a course record 2:06:43.

Conditions in Osaka were excellent for fast running: clear skies, a start-time temperature of 11.3°C, and the city’s famously flat and fast course that begins in front of the Osaka Prefectural Government Building and finishes at Osaka Castle Park.

Defending champion Yihunilign Adane of Ethiopia, who won last year’s edition in 2:05:37, came up just short of retaining his title but still ran a strong 2:05:33 for second. Kenya’s Ezra Kipketer Tanui rounded out the podium in 2:05:55, followed by compatriot Benson Tunyo in 2:06:10.

The Japanese contingent produced an impressive showing in depth, with six runners dipping under 2:07. Twenty-three-year-old Kiyoto Hirabayashi led the domestic field in fifth place with 2:06:14, followed closely by Ichitaka Yamashita (2:06:18) and Yuki Takei (2:06:24). All three, along with Yuhei Urano (2:06:41, 8th) and Ryo Goda (2:06:51, 10th), earned qualification spots for the Marathon Grand Championship, the critical selection race for Japan’s LA 2028 Olympic marathon team.

Among the international runners, Sweden’s Samuel Tsegay Tesfamariam ran a solid 2:06:51 for 11th, American Ethan Shuley clocked 2:07:14 in 14th, South Africa’s Elroy Gelant ran 2:08:20 for 22nd, and France’s Benjamin Choquert finished 44th in 2:10:47.

Men’s Top 10 Results

Women’s Race: Dibaba Returns to the Top in Osaka

The women’s race was won convincingly by Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba, who clocked 2:21:44 to set a new course record, bettering the previous mark of 2:22:16 set by compatriot Helen Bekele Tola in 2023. It was a reminder of the pedigree Dibaba brings to every start line: the 2015 World Championships marathon gold medalist and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medalist remains a force well into her 30s.

Dibaba controlled the race from the front, building a gap that her pursuers could never close. Kenya’s Esther Chemtai finished 20 seconds behind in 2:22:04 for a competitive second place, while Bahrain’s Rose Chelimo — the 2017 World Championships marathon gold medalist — took third in 2:22:52.

Ethiopia’s Afera Godfay finished fourth in 2:23:28, with Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi rounding out the top five in 2:24:06. Japan’s Kaede Kawamura, from Kyoto, was the best domestic runner in sixth place with 2:25:55, earning her a coveted MGC qualification spot.

Women’s Top 8 Results

MGC Qualifying: The Road to LA 2028 Takes Shape

Beyond the elite international battle, the 2026 Osaka Marathon served a crucial domestic purpose: qualifying runners for Japan’s Marathon Grand Championship (MGC), the unique single-race selection event that determines Japan’s Olympic marathon team for Los Angeles 2028. Five new male runners earned MGC spots through their performances in Osaka: Hirabayashi, Yamashita, Takei, Urano, and Goda. On the women’s side, Kaede Kawamura secured her place.

Japan’s marathon depth continues to impress, with the top ten domestic men all finishing under 2:07. The country’s unique corporate athletics system, where runners train full-time within company-sponsored teams, continues to produce a remarkable pipeline of sub-elite and elite marathoners who make events like Osaka genuinely competitive from the front to deep down the field.

About the Osaka Marathon

The Osaka Marathon (also known as the Osaka-Lake Biwa Marathon since the 2022 merger with the historic Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon) is a World Athletics Platinum Label road race held annually in February in Osaka, Japan. The fast, flat course runs through some of the city’s most iconic districts — including Midosuji boulevard, the Dotonbori canal area, and Nakanoshima — before finishing at Osaka Castle Park. Under the slogan “Making a Rainbow Together,” the event combines elite competition with mass participation, charity initiatives, a wheelchair race, a relay marathon, and a children’s challenge run, attracting over 30,000 runners in total. It is Japan’s second-largest marathon after the Tokyo Marathon.

Ran a marathon recently or training for your next one? RunningLog automatically syncs with your Strava account to import all your race results and training data. Build your complete marathon history, track your progression across every 42.195km, and plan your next PB — all in one place.