Noguchi to wear "magic" rice-husk shoes at Olympics
<p> </p><p></p><div class="arial_9"><p align="left"><img align="left" border="0" id="644445" md5="" sourcedescription="编辑提供的本地文件" sourcename="本地文件" src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2007-11/23/../../images/attachement/jpg/site1/20071123/001aa018ff9c08b0d7892f.jpg" style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 170px" title=""/></p><p>TOKYO - Japan's Mizuki Noguchi will wear a pair of "magic shoes" made of rice husks in her bid to win a second straight Olympic marathon gold in Beijing next year.</p><p>The 29-year-old hopes her cryogenic pumps will help reduce the temperature of her feet if, as expected, she makes Japan's 2008 Olympic team.</p><p>The grip on the new shoes contains a mixture of rice husks which the designers say will improve air-flow in Beijing's stifling summer heat next year.</p><p>"They are so light and really easy to run in," Noguchi, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Games, told Japan's Nikkan Sports on Friday. "They're like magic shoes."</p><p>Noguchi moved closer to defending her Olympic title, and a possible rematch with Britain's Paula Radcliffe, by winning last Sunday's Tokyo International Marathon.</p></div>