Ugandan Stella Chesang wins Osaka Women’s Marathon

Ugandan athlete Stella Chesang won the Osaka Women’s Marathon on Sunday, clocking in a 2:19:31 performance.

Chesang ran with Ethiopians Workenesh Edesa, Bedatu Hirpa, Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda, Mao Uesugi, Nanaka Izawa and marathon debutante Mikuni Yada through 5km in 16:44 and 10km in 33:16.

Izawa began to fall back at 15km, while Matsuda started to drift around 17km. By 20km, six athletes worked together at the front with Izawa hanging on and Matsuda falling behind further. They passed halfway in 1:10:13.

🇺🇬Uganda's Stella Chesang was victorious in the 2026 Osaka International Women's Marathon on Sunday morning, posting a World Leading time of 2:19:31 to take home 🥇Gold in Japan. 🔥👏🏿👏🏿#GoLocal🏃🏿‍♀️ | 📸 Courtesy Image pic.twitter.com/0sMExxynB2

— Nnalubaale Sports (@NnalubaaleS) January 25, 2026

Izawa was off the front pack after 25km. It was then just Chesang, Yada, Edesa, and Hirpa, with Uesugi and Izawa gradually losing touch as the kms passed.

No one had a kick to match Chesang after 41km.

Chesang was followed in by Hirpa and Edesa for second and third. The recorded finish times were 2:19:54 and 2:19:56, respectively.

The first Japanese runner was Mikuni Yada, who finished fourth in 2:19:57.

The 29-year-old Chesang holds a personal best of 2:18:26 from the 2024 Valencia Marathon, which is the Ugandan national record. Hirpa has run as fast as 2:18:27, which she accomplished during the Dubai Marathon 12 months ago. In April last year, Edesa ran the Hamburg Marathon in 2:17:55. She was favoured to win Osaka, going in.

For Chesang, she was paced for 32 kilometres by 28-year-old Kenyan Loice Chemnung, who holds a PB of 2:18:24. She is the first Ugandan to win a World Athletics Platinum Label Marathon.

Top-20 results