Noguchi wins in Tokyo

Noguchi, 29, duelled with Kenyan Salina Kosgei until the 22-mile mark but pulled ahead at the start of an uphill section to win the sun-soaked race in 2:21.37.

Kosgei, who won the 2004 Paris marathon and was the runner-up in the Berlin marathon last year, trailed home in 2:23.31. Italian Bruna Genovese finished third in 2:27.35.

Noguchi's convincing victory came just two weeks after Radcliffe, the world record holder from Britain, won the New York marathon 10 months after having her first baby.

Radcliffe, the 2005 world champion, aims to win her first Olympic medal in Beijing.

"I was really scared at the starting line because I had been making mistakes, including injuries for two years," Noguchi said with a big smile.

"I think this victory has opened the road to Beijing for me."

A woman has never won a second-straight marathon in the Olympics.

"A headwind hit me very hard from the start to the turning point," she continued. "But I was all right because it was much tougher in St. Moritz [in Switzerland] or Kunming [in China], where I underwent camp training."

The race boiled down to a three-way affair, but another Japanese, Yoko Shibui, started to fade 10 kilometres later. Shibui, 28, finished seventh.

"It's hard to find any fault with such a brilliant run and time," said Keisuke Sawaki, executive director of the Japan Association of Athletic Federations.

"With a particular rival in mind, Noguchi showed us that she is a big runner who can put out an explosive duel in the second half.

"I believe she has been working out tactics with Radcliffe in mind."

Nogichi's most recent effort was the 2005 Berlin marathon, which she won in 2:19.12, her personal best. However injuries ended her plans to race in Berlin in 2006 and in London last year.

The diminutive five-foot tall runner triumphed at the 2004 Athens Games, overcoming a tough field including Britain's world record holder Radcliffe and Kenyan Catherine Ndereba.

Radcliffe pulled out in scorching weather and Ndereba finished second.

The Tokyo race was one of three marathons that the Japanese athletic association set aside as national trials to decide Olympic berths for Japanese women.

Reiko Tosa has already booked one of three tickets to Beijing by finishing third in this summer's world championships in Osaka in a race won by Ndereba.

Naoko Takahashi, 35, the 2000 Sydney Olympic champion, is among other Japanese marathon women chasing tickets to the Games.

The association will select the full line-up after the remaining trials on the basis of results, medal prospects and other factors.

"I felt like being pushed to the edge of a cliff because there were only two berths left," Noguchi said. "That's why I'm happy."