Sydney Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi from Japan finished third in the Tokyo International Women's Marathon in rainy and windy weather on Sunday, losing to her compatriot Reiko Tosa, who finished in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 15 seconds.

Takahashi, who has been highly expected to defend the title, finished third in 2:31:22, the second slowest in her career. Another Japanese runner Akemi Ozaki was second in 2:28:51.

Tosa, fifth at the 2004 Athens Olympics, ran unchallenged in the final 11 kilometers.

Takahashi attributed loss of the race to the hurt of calf muscles, saying her "legs began to go to sleep after 30 km".

She denied that she would retire after the defeat, and expressed the expectation to run in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The 34-year-old runner made a surprise return and dramatically won last year's race after almost two years' away. She suffered in 2003 a shock defeat in the race and lost the opportunity to go to Athens.