1 year until Tokyo Paralympics Japanese gold medal candidate August 22 14:56
The Tokyo Paralympic Games, which will open on August 25 next year, will have 22 competitions, and Japan has set the goal of winning 22 gold medals, the highest ever.
I asked the players who are expected to be gold medal candidates in Japan.
Onshore wheelchair class
A Japanese athlete who is aiming for two gold medals at the Tokyo Paralympics is Tomohiro Sato (29).
My legs and left arm are damaged due to my spinal cord illness when I was 21 years old.
Sato won a silver medal in the second race of the 400-meter and 1500-meter wheelchairs at the Rio de Janeiro tournament for the first time.
In addition, in the World Championship of the Ototo, we won the victory over American rival Raymond Martin, who surpassed both Sato players in the Rio de Janeiro tournament, and set a new world record for these two events last year.
Sato said, “I ’m still losing to Martin in the Paralympic title. I felt so regrettable that I couldn't express it in words, so I wanted to do that revenge. I want to go to knock it with my best, ”he says.
And for the year up to the Tokyo Paralympic Games, “You are just hungry for victory and you have to keep winning to calm this hunger. First of all, you won the World Championship in November, and you took part in the Tokyo Games. In Tokyo, I wanted to win a gold medal with a new world record for both types, ”he said.
Wheelchair Rugby Japan National Team Toru Ike
Toru Ike (39) is the captain of the wheelchair rugby representative from Japan aiming for a gold medal.
At the age of 19, Ike player cuts his left leg in a traffic accident and has a disability in his left arm.
The last Rio de Janeiro tournament, which was the first appearance at the command tower of a team with an accurate pass, greatly contributed to the bronze medal in Japan.
Japan is strengthening mainly by Mr. Ike, and won the World Championship last year by defeating Australia who won the Rio de Janeiro Tournament.
In the Tokyo tournament, I will be a potential gold medal candidate.
“I was able to win the world championship, but my rivals are also gaining new strength. I have gained strength training and gained weight, but this one so that I can give the best performance as an individual and as a team. I want to prepare well for the year. ”
And "I think that there are a lot of people who don't understand the rules and the obstacles of athletes in the Paralympic Games, but I want to make it a tournament where many people are interested in the attractiveness of the competition and the background of the athletes." I made it.
Wheelchair Rugby Japan National Team Daisuke Ikezaki
Ace's Daisuke Ikezaki (41) is another wheelchair rugby that is indispensable for Japan.
Last year's World Championship, where Japan won, was selected as the best player.
For the Tokyo Paralympics, “I have only one year to go until the opening, but I want to work hard to raise my skills to gain the gold medal that I am aiming for.”
Ikezaki, who developed an intractable disease in which the strength of the limbs weakened at the age of 6, began wheelchair rugby at the age of 30.
It has a high attack power that makes use of wheelchairs, called chairwork.
Ikezaki said, “I want to tell you that wheelchair rugby is a great competition. I want to boost the Tokyo Games to further develop the Paralympics for the next generation of children with disabilities. I want to prepare well for the past year. ”
Onshore Women's Marathon Misato Michishita
Misato Michishita from the visually impaired class of the women's marathon is eager to “raise the gold medal at the highest point”.
Mr. Michishita suffered from eye disease when he was in the fourth grade of elementary school, has no right eyesight and little left eyesight.
Marked a new world record of 2 hours 56 minutes 14 seconds at the tournament in Ototoshi Yamaguchi Prefecture.
In fact, I won the London Marathon in April, and I was selected as the representative of the Tokyo Games.
This means that we are looking at the course in anticipation of the Tokyo Games and checking conditions such as temperature and humidity.
Ms. Michishita said, “In three years from the Rio de Janeiro tournament, it ’s impatient that there ’s only one year left. I want to work harder, prepare, and be on the start line with confidence. "
In Rio de Janeiro, it is said that there were few roadside spectators because the course was different between the Olympics and Paralympics.
“The Tokyo Games will run on the same course for both the Olympics and the Paralympic Games, so I think that many people will be able to support them. I said.