Prime Minister Kishida presented the People's Honor Award to Shingo Kunieda, who retired from active duty in January this year as a leading wheelchair tennis player and achieved the "Lifetime Golden Slam" by winning all four major tournaments and the Paralympic Games. We decided to award it and reported it at the cabinet meeting on the 3rd.

Shingo Kunieda is 39 years old from Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture.

For many years he has been a leading figure in wheelchair tennis in the world.



When he was 9 years old, he had a spinal cord disease that left him disabled in both legs, and two years later he started playing wheelchair tennis.



In 2006, at the age of 22, he became the world No. 1 for the first time and has set a series of unprecedented records, including a record 28 Grand Slam singles titles.



He has participated in five consecutive Paralympic Games since the 2004 Athens Games, won consecutive gold medals in singles at the Beijing Games in 2008 and the London Games in 2012, and won his third gold medal at the Tokyo Games two years ago. Did.



And last year, he achieved his long-cherished wish of winning the Wimbledon Championships, achieving the “Lifetime Golden Slam” of winning all four Grand Slams and the Paralympics.



In addition to quick wheelchair manipulation and accurate and versatile shots, he has contributed to the improvement of the competitiveness of wheelchair tennis by incorporating a powerful topspin backhand that was rarely seen in wheelchair tennis in the past.

National Honor Award and Sports World

In the world of sports, 11 people and one organization have received the People's Honor Award so far, and this is the first time for a para-athlete to receive the award.



The People's Honor Award is a system that was started in 1977 by the Prime Minister to commend people who have been widely loved by the people and have made great achievements in giving hope to society. Souvenirs such as wristwatches will be given.



So far, 26 people and one group have received the People's Honor Award.



The first winner was Sadaharu Oh, who broke the world home run record in professional baseball, followed by singer Hibari Misora ​​and film director Akira Kurosawa. Yuzuru Hanyu who achieved the award in 2018.



Japan's national team "Nadeshiko Japan", which won the 2011 Women's World Cup, was the only organization to receive the award.



Of these, 11 and one organization received awards from the sports world, which is the largest number by field.



Also, so far in the sports world, Ichiro, who was active in professional baseball and the major leagues, Yutaka Fukumoto, who set a stolen base record in professional baseball's Hankyu, and Shohei Otani, a major league and Angels player. It is 3 people.