Tomoki Sato won the gold medal in the men's 400-meter wheelchair class final at the National Stadium on the night of the 27th at the Tokyo Paralympics.


It was the pinnacle of my long-cherished desire to compete with the rivals who lost in the previous tournament.

Sato weighs 70 kg, which is relatively heavy, and although it takes time to get up to speed, he is confident in his growth and top speed after the middle stage.


On the other hand, Raymond Martin of the United States, who aimed for the third straight victory, is good at starting dash taking advantage of the lightness of the weight of 40 kg.



For Sato, Martin is a fateful rival who lost both 400 meters and 1500 meters in the last Rio de Janeiro tournament.

After that, Sato broke the world record for both of the two events and beat Martin in the world championship, but he vowed to be the best in the world for the first time after winning the Paralympics.



In the morning qualifying, Martin, who appeared earlier, decided his favorite start dash and marked the best record of the season.


It was a surprising finish that Japanese officials said, "It's a different person from the world championships."

On the other hand, Sato was the fastest overall time after the middle stage, despite the mistake of slipping his hand in a wheelchair immediately after the start.


He also said strongly that his rivals are doing well, "I have only confidence in the final."



And the final.

As expected, Martin, who led the race at the start, was gradually caught up by Sato with a long run.

And just before the finish, Sato overtook Martin and won by just 0.2 seconds.


The time was 55.39, which was a new Paralympic record and was close to our own world record.

Tomoki Sato


"I came with the idea of ​​losing to Martin in Rio and revenge in Tokyo. Martin was out of tune for a while, but I believed he would aim for the Paralympics. I think we were able

to break the

Paralympic record. "



Martin


" Both of them never set the 55-second range, and it was a wonderful time that was closer than expected. I got off to a good start, but overtook the powerful Sato finish. It has been in had "



won the rival showdown, Sato player who represents the joy and tears to finally arrived gold medal.

Still, I'm not satisfied.

Tomoki Sato


"I got the gold medal, but the 400-meter world record was a mess until the next tournament. So I still don't want to say that I am the best in the world. At the next 1500 meters, the world record gold medal Be sure to achieve "



1500 meters on the 29th.

The next rival is myself.