Tokyo Marathon 2023 ballot: 16th edition, 38,231 finishers

Tokyo 2023 on March 5 was the full mass-participation return, with a field of 38,231 entrants after three pandemic-scarred years, and 36,560 finished. Cool, partly cloudy conditions near 9 degrees set up a thrilling men's finish. Deso Gelmisa and Mohamed Esa were locked together to the line, both timed at 2:05:22, with Gelmisa awarded the win by the narrowest of margins in one of the closest finishes in race history. Rosemary Wanjiru controlled the women's race to win in 2:16:28, holding off Tsehay Gemechu. Acceptance odds remained roughly one in ten, and the smooth full-scale staging reassured Six Star chasers that Tokyo was back to normal.