One of my greatest memories of Olympics by Kats Ote

One of my greatest memories is that Naoko Takahashi won the gold in the women's marathon at 2000 Sydney Olympics. Marathon has always been one of the most popular Olympic games in Japan. Their enthusiasm about the game was so strong that by the 1980s, it became their national goal to win gold in Olympics. A dozen of their world-famous male hopefuls, such as Seko, Nakayama, So brothers, and Morishita, all tried to achieve the national goal, but they only ended with the Morishita's silver. Fairly unknown female runner Arimori won the silver in 1992 Barcelona and the bronze in 1996 Atlanta. Morishita and Arimori both reached almost there, but the victory just slipped through their fingers. When Takahashi finally achieved triumph, she instantly became the national heroine. She was so popular and highly respected that she was awarded People's Honor Award, which is usually given to older individuals, in her 20s.