Yuriko Kobayashi, Date of Birth, Place of Birth
TweetYuriko Kobayashi
Japanese long-distance runner
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
About Yuriko Kobayashi
- Yuriko Kobayashi (Japanese: ?? ???; born 12 December 1988 in Hyogo) is a Japanese middle- and long-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres.
- She represented Japan at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She started out in middle-distance events, running in the 800 metres at the 2004 World Junior Championships and then winning a 1500 m silver medal at the World Youth Championships in Athletics the following year.
- She won the bronze medal in the 1500 m at the 2005 Asian Championships in Athletics and went one better at the 2006 Asian Games by taking the silver medal in Doha.
- Kobayashi moved up to specialise in longer distances and ran the 5000 m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after becoming the Japanese national champion in the event. She gave the best performance by an Asian runner in the women's 5000 m at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, finishing in eleventh and beating her domestic rival Yurika Nakamura.
- Kobayashi ended her season with a 5000 m gold medal at the 2009 East Asian Games.
- She was selected to represent Asia/Pacific at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup, but managed only eighth place in the 3000 m.
- The following January, she ran for Hyogo at the 2011 Women's Inter-Prefectural Ekiden and set a new stage record in her section, although the team finished in ninth position overall.
- She was the bronze medalist in the 5000 m at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe, one place behind her compatriot Hitomi Niiya.
- At the International Chiba Ekiden in November she won the first women's stage for Japan, setting a race record for her leg, and the mixed team went on to finish a close second behind Kenya.
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