is a Japanese athlete who specialises in

long distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running come two di ...

, including the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. Her first major medal came at the

Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

, where she won the silver in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

race. She changed to focus on

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

and after successful appearances in

ekiden is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on Road running, roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times accessed Feb. 19, 2009. The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competiti ...

competitions, she won her first marathon in 2007 – the

Hokkaido Marathon The Hokkaido Marathon held in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan, is one of the prominent marathon races of the year. The staging area as well as both the start and finish lines are in Odori Park starting between Nishi 3-chome and Nishi 4-chome and the fin ...

. Representing an independent

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

club she took part in the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

and the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

in 2009. She competed at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

for the first time that year, and ended the World Championship marathon race in seventh place. She won a silver in the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

event at the

2009 East Asian Games The 2009 East Asian Games, officially known as the V East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that hosted by Hong Kong, between 5 December and 13 December 2009. A total of 2,377 athletes from 9 east asia, East Asian national compet ...

and won her first major domestic marathon race soon after, taking the

Nagoya Marathon The , named until the 2010 race, is an annual marathon race for female runners over the classic distance of 42 km and 195 metres, held in Nagoya, Japan in early March every year. It holds World Athletics Platinum road race status. It i ...

in a time of 2:27:11.

Career

Early career

She started out as a

runner on the track and won the silver medal behind

Leigh Daniel Leigh Daniel (born August 6, 1978, in Lubbock, Texas) is the former head coach of the women's cross country program and assistant track and field coach at Ashland University in Ohio (2005-2010). She also is an American track athlete specializi ...

at the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma, Majorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain from 3 July to 13 July. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football (finals), ceremonies * Palau Municipal d'Espor ...

. She continued to race over

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

and 10,000 m at Japanese track meetings but she began to make an impact in

instead, competing in the

.Kano Yuri

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2010-03-17. At the

Women's Corporate Team Ekiden Championships The All-Japan Women’s Corporate (Jitsugyodan) Ekiden Championship, also known as Queen´s Ekiden (クイーンズ駅伝) is held in mid December. The 6 stage 42.195 kilometer ekiden race had been held in Gifu Prefecture from 1983 to 2010. For the ...

in 2004, she ran for

Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world an ...

and the team finished third overall. She set the stage two record at the 2005

Yokohama International Ekiden is the second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of 3.7 million in 2023. It lies on Tokyo B ...

, running the 10 km stretch in 31:25, and took the team gold with Japan. She ran for Japan in the

International Chiba Ekiden The International Chiba Ekiden was an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Japan in late November. The marathon relay race, or ekiden as it is known in Japan, is one of the prominent annual races of its kind. The competition is s ...

in 2006, helping her team to third place. She also began competing abroad and took part in the

Carlsbad 5000 The Carlsbad 5000 is an annual 5K run, five kilometer (3.1 mile) road running event that takes place each spring in the city of Carlsbad, California, along the north coast of San Diego County, California, San Diego County. Organization The event i ...

and finished in sixth place. She closed the year with a fourth-place finish at the

Sanyo Half Marathon The Sanyo Women's Half Marathon, also known as the Sanyo Women's Road Race (), is an annual road running competition for women held in December in Okayama, Japan. It features both a 10K run and half marathon race (21.1 km/13.1 miles). Sanyo Sh ...

Marathon running

After 2007, Kanō became unusual as a road racing athlete in that she competed for an independent

club (''Second Wind'') instead of being part of the corporate team system prevalent in Japan. This enabled her to focus on performing at major races internationally rather than being placed in races where she would be confident of winning. She began competing over the marathon distance and made her debut at the 2007

Osaka International Ladies Marathon The is an annual marathon road race for women over the classic distance of 42.195 kilometres which is held on the 4th or 5th Sunday of January in the city of Osaka, Japan, and hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations, Kansai Te ...

, where she finished third overall with a time of 2:24:43. She won her first marathon race later that year at the

, leading from the very start in her first victory. The following year she won at the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon, over half a minute ahead of the rest of the field. She recorded a significant

best of 1:08:57 to win at the 2008

Sapporo Half Marathon The was an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance which took place each July in Sapporo, Japan. First held in 1958, the race began as a full marathon competition for men under the moniker of the Hokkai Times Marathon. T ...

. In 2009, she was second at the

Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon The is an annual road running competition which takes place in early February in Marugame, Japan. It currently holds IAAF Silver Label Road Race status and the professional races attract over 1000 entries each year,Ota, Shigenobu (2009-02-02)Maru ...

and fifth at the Sapporo Half Marathon. She appeared at two

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) sponsored by Abbott Laboratories is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on seven major marathon races recognised as the most high-profile o ...

that year: the

and the

. She took a tumble onto the pavement in the former race but managed to recover and finished in ninth place. She finished in eleventh place in London. Kanō was selected to represent

Japan at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics Japan will compete at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics from 15–23 August. A team of 57 athletes was announced in preparation for the competition. Selected athletes have achieved one of the competition's 2009 World Championships in Athlet ...

. She finished seventh overall and was Japan's second best performer in the World Championships marathon race after silver medallist Yoshimi Ozaki. She brought an end to her 2009 campaign with a silver medal in the half marathon at the

, finishing just behind Kim Kum-Ok of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. She won her first major marathon in 2010: seeing off competition including

Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu NL COL (, Amharic: ደራርቱ ቱሉ; born 21 March 1972) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, who competed in track, cross country running, and road running up to the marathon distance. Derartu is the first Ethiopian ...

, she won the

Nagoya Women's Marathon The , named until the 2010 race, is an annual marathon race for female runners over the classic distance of 42 km and 195 metres, held in Nagoya, Japan in early March every year. It holds World Athletics Platinum road race status. It i ...

in 2:27:11, which also doubled as a national championship victory. She was happy with her second ever marathon win, saying: "I have promised myself to challenge for a victory many times before but I was unable to attain my goal previously...this time I was determined to win". A victory at the Sapporo Half Marathon in July came after as she held off a challenge from Azausa Nojiri to keep the lead in the final stages.Nakamura, Ken (2010-07-04
Njui and Kano take Sapporo Half Marathon titles

. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.

Achievements

*All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

Personal bests

References

External links

*
JAAF profile

Second Wind profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kano, Yuri 1978 births Living people Japanese female long-distance runners Japanese female marathon runners Asian Games competitors for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for Japan World Athletics Championships athletes for Japan Japan Championships in Athletics winners 21st-century Japanese sportswomen Athletes from Hyōgo Prefecture