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Jan 22, 2021 The Japan Association of Athletics Federations announced its award recipients for the 2020 season on Thursday with long-distance track runner Hitomi Niiya capturing the Athlete of the Year accolade. Niiya broke Yoko Shibui’s 18-year-old national record in the women’s 10,000 at December’s national championships for long-distance disciplines at Osaka’s Nagai Stadium. She booked a spot at this summer’s Tokyo Limits with her record time of 30 minutes and 20.44 seconds. The 32-year-old, who came out of a five-year retirement in 2018, set a new national record of 1:06:38 at the Houston Half Marathon in January 2020 as well. “I’m extremely happy and at the same time it’s an award that makes me feel that I need to keep pushing myself, and I wouldn’t have won an award like this without the support of my fans and those who have been associated with me,” Niiya told an online news conference. ....