Yuko Arimori

Yuko Arimori (1966) is a Japanese professional marathon runner and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). She was born on December 17, 1966 in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. She married Gabriel Pattillo Wilson on January 14, 1998 in Boulder, Colorado, United States.

Arimori competed for Japan in the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain in the Marathon where she won the silver medal with a time of 2:32:49, eight seconds behind Russian Valentina Yegorova who ran the race in 2:32:41. This hard-fought race was the closest finishing time in Olympic history for men or women at that time. At the Atlanta Olympics four years later, Arimori returned to the Olympic marathon, where she won the bronze medal and finished behind Valentina Yegorova for a second time. Yegorova ran the race in 2:28:05. Arimori's time was 2:28:39. Although both runners ran four minutes faster than their previous olympic race, they were beaten back by Ethopian runner Fatuma Roba, who completed the race and won the gold medal with a time of 2:26:05.

Arimori is considered to be the first Japanese female “professional” athlete. She was the first woman granted professional status by the Japanese Amateur Athletic Federation (JAAF), the nation’s governing track and field association. She was granted this status in 1996, following her second and final appearance at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.