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Article: Athletics: Mission Helsinki for diplomatic Mara From the Foreign Office to foreign fields. Simon Turnbull talks to a Briton inspired by Radcliffe
- Article from:
- The Independent on Sunday (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 24, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 The Independent on Sunday. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Mara Yamauchi has encountered the phenomenon of the femme
formidable before. In her time as a Foreign Office diplomat in Tokyo,
the runner who finished second to Paula Radcliffe in the British
women's section of the London Marathon a week ago was asked to keep
the Iron Lady of politics up to speed.
'Yes, I did some informal interpreting for her at a dinner,'
Yamauchi said, recalling a visit to the British Embassy by Baroness
Thatcher. 'That was very exciting.' An Oxford woman who returned from
Tokyo with a Japanese husband and a Japanese surname, Yamauchi can
also reflect on the time she found herself taking a hot-sand bath in
the company of Jack Straw " talking about the football club of ...