On April 1, 2026 (Beijing time), Japanese middle- and long-distance runner Nozomi Tanaka announced she is joining Toyota Industries Corporation and will compete as a member of its women's athletics club. As early as her university years, Tanaka received ongoing support from Toyota, and after graduating she joined the company as an employee. In March 2023 she briefly left the company to compete as a freelance athlete, but Toyota continued to support her. Three years later, she has now chosen to return to Toyota's women's athletics team. Born in 1999, Tanaka first broke onto the international scene in 2018. At that year's World U20 Championships she won the women's 3000m final in 8:54.01. Since then she has repeatedly broken Japanese national records and has been dubbed "Japan's record crusher." She currently holds the Japanese national records in six events: women's 1500m (3:59.19), indoor 1500m (4:08.46), 3000m (8:34.09), indoor 3000m (8:33.52), 5000m (14:29.18) and indoor 5000m (14:51.26). Even more astonishingly, in the history of Japanese women's athletics the top 30 all-time marks in the women's 1500m (outdoor) are all by Tanaka; nine of the top ten marks in the women's 3000m (outdoor) belong to her; and the top 11 marks in the women's 5000m (outdoor) were all set by Tanaka. Tanaka has represented Japan at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2024 Paris Olympics, and three editions of the World Athletics Championships. How might the 26-year-old Nozomi Tanaka's career change after returning to Toyota? #NozomiTanaka #JapanAthletics #Athletics #TrailRunningBoom