Shingo Kunieda, a leading wheelchair tennis player who achieved the "Golden Slam for Life" by winning all four major tournaments and the Paralympics, was awarded the National Honor Award on the 17th.

The award ceremony for Mr. Shingo Kunieda's National Honor Award was held at the Prime Minister's Office on the evening of the 17th, and was attended by Mr. Kunieda and his wife, Ai.

Prime Minister Kishida presented the certificate and plaque with a certificate of commendation, saying, "We have achieved unprecedented achievements such as the achievement of the 'Golden Slam for Life,' and have made an extremely remarkable contribution to the expansion of social recognition of para-sports and the development of sports, giving dreams and excitement to the people of Japan, as well as bright hopes and courage to society."

In addition, as a souvenir, a watch chosen by Mr. Kunieda was presented to the couple.

Mr. Kunieda later told reporters, "I was really surprised when the award was decided. I hope that this will bring the Paralympics closer to an environment where more people can recognize them and enjoy them as sports."

This is the first time in five years that the National Honor Award has been awarded to figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu in Heisei 30, and this is the 5th time that the award has been given to an individual athlete and the first time it has been awarded to a para-athlete.

Leading the world of wheelchair tennis

Shingo Kunieda is a 39-year-old from Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture.

He has been a leading figure in the world of wheelchair tennis for many years.

At the age of nine, a spinal cord disease left both legs disabled, and two years later he started playing wheelchair tennis.

In 9, at the age of 2, he became world No. 2006 for the first time and has won the singles title of the four major tournaments a record 22 times, setting an unprecedented record.

She has participated in five consecutive Paralympic Games since the 1 Athens Games, won back-to-back singles titles at Beijing 28 and London 2004, and won her third gold medal in two Olympics in Tokyo.

And last year, I won the Wimbledon Championships, which was my long-cherished dream, and achieved the "Golden Slam for Life" by winning all four major tournaments and the Paralympics.

Former world champion Roger Federer, who has won a total of 5 of the four major men's tennis tournaments, famously replied, "There is a national tennis player in Japan" when asked why there are no world-class tennis players from Japan.

Kunieda retired on January 2008 while still ranked No. 2012 in the world.

At his retirement press conference last month, he looked back on his 2-year competitive career with a smile, saying, "I had the best tennis life."

The driving force is "making wheelchair tennis a sport"

Shingo Kunieda was the first para-athlete to receive the National Honor Award.

The driving force behind this was a commitment to winning and a strong desire to have wheelchair tennis recognized as a sport.

In 2004, Kunieda competed in the Paralympic Games for the first time at the Athens Games, winning the gold medal in men's doubles.

At that time, even gold medals were not easily featured in the sports section [of newspapers], so I wanted them to treat it as a sport somehow," Kunieda recalls.

At that time, parasports were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, not the same Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which is the same as able-bodied people.

He was blocked by the government and had the experience of not being able to use part of the facility as he wanted.

The person who spoke to me was Hiromichi Maruyama, who coached Mr. Kunieda for nearly 20 years since he was 17 years old.

In 2007, the men's singles in the wheelchair division became an official event for the first time at the French Open, one of the four major tennis tournaments.

The following year, I offered to practice at the National Training Center in Kita-ku, Tokyo, which was the only red clay court in the Kanto region at the time.

There was no precedent for wheelchair tennis players to use it.

They were allowed to practice on the court, but they were initially not allowed to use lockers or cafeterias to change into practice clothes stained with red clay.

Looking back on those days, Mr. Maruyama said:

"At the time, I was laughing and talking with Kunieda about 'let's make sure that next year we can use the place to change clothes' or 'next year we want to be able to eat in the main cafeteria.' This is how the world is.'"

At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and the 2012 London Games, Kunieda won two consecutive men's singles titles, and has steadily accumulated achievements since then.

We are also beginning to see changes in the environment surrounding para-sports.

In FY2014, the sports business for people with disabilities was transferred from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and in 2019, a facility for para-athletes was completed at the National Training Center.

In addition, Mr. Kunieda himself lobbied for the introduction of wheelchair clubs at the Japan Open, a men's tour tournament in Japan, and made it a reality in 2019.

At his retirement press conference last month, Kunieda was asked about his struggles to increase the social presence of wheelchair tennis.

"If I have bad eyes, I wear glasses, and I have bad legs, so I have no choice but to play sports in a wheelchair.

"The Paralympic Games are said to be for the realization of an inclusive society, but I thought that if it didn't inspire and excite me as a sport, it wouldn't lead to that, so I myself played with a strong commitment to sports. In that sense, it's a fight against the opponent, a fight against yourself, and a fight to be seen as a sport. These three things were on my shoulders all the time I was active."

Barrier-free environment development training base Players gather to follow their backs

Yoshihiko Yoshida, Representative Director of the Yoshida Memorial Tennis Training Center in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, where Shingo Kunieda started playing wheelchair tennis at the age of 11 and has continued to practice at the center, expressed his joy at receiving the award, saying, "I am very pleased that Kunieda, who has been practicing at our center, receives the National Honor Award."

At this facility, we are working to improve a barrier-free environment with the advice of wheelchair users such as Mr. Kunieda.

In addition to installing simple sliding doors in ordinary toilets and renovating them into toilets for people with disabilities that can accommodate enough wheelchairs, we have made efforts to make it easier for wheelchair users to open the doors, installing handrails in a low position, and cutting some of the pillars so that they do not interfere with movement.

As a result of these efforts, the British wheelchair tennis team held a preparatory training camp at the Tokyo Paralympics, and was also designated as a training center for the Japan national team.

In addition, they are planning to move the front desk on the second floor to the first floor in May to make it easier for wheelchair users to use.

The facility is home to players who follow Kunieda's footsteps, and it also serves as a training base for the next generation of wheelchair tennis players such as Tokyo Paralympic representatives Taku Sanada and Daisuke Arai.

Representative Director Yoshida said, "I hope it will encourage players like Kunieda, who are aiming to play an active role in the future, and I hope that he will contribute not only to tennis but also to the development of sports and the region."