Olympics: Marathon champ Takahashi among 12 new organizing executives

The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee's councilors announced 12 new female members for the committee's executive board Wednesday, including Sydney Olympic marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi and Paralympic Alpine skier Kuniko Obinata.The 12 new members bring the number of women on the 45-member board to 19, raising female participation to above the 40 percent target set by the committee's new President Seiko Hashimoto, from 20 percent before their addition.Also joining the committee as directors are Naoko Saiki, an executive board member of the Japan Rugby Football Union …READ FULL ARTICLE