Impairment Information |
Origin of Impairment |
Acquired |
Classification |
S5, SB4, SM5 |
Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Kawasaki, JPN |
Occupation |
Office Worker |
Languages |
Japanese |
Sport Specific Information |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
She learned to swim in 1994 and won her first competition in the same year after just one month of training. |
Why this sport? |
She was encouraged by friends to participate in a para-swimming competition. |
Club / Team |
Yokohama Sakura Swimming School : Japan |
Name of coach |
Masayuki Horikoshhi [personal], JPN, from 2014; Fumiyo Minemura [national], JPN |
General Interest |
Nicknames |
Queen of Water, Ma-chan (nhk.or.jp, 08 Sep 2015; IPC, 30 Nov 2009) |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Qualifying to compete at her fifth Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. (Athlete, 06 Sep 2016) |
Hero / Idol |
German para-swimmer Kay Espenhayn. (Athlete, 06 Sep 2016; IPC, 30 Nov 2009) |
Injuries |
In 2008 she suffered a hip joint disease and spent time in hospital recovering from the condition. She left hospital ten days before the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. (sankei.com, 21 Aug 2015)
In January 2006 she had problems with her hip joint. She had three operations and stayed in a hospital for 20 months. (yomiuri.co.jp, 21 May 2008) |
Awards and honours |
She was named the 2005 Female Athlete of the Year by the International Paralympic Committee [IPC]. (paralympic.org, 25 Oct 2005)
She was presented with the Prime Minister Honorary Award in 2000. (hochi.co.jp, 03 Jul 2016)
She was given the Kawasaki Citizen Honorary Award in Japan in 1996. (hochi.co.jp, 03 Jul 2016) |
Impairment |
She has been in a wheelchair since she was 13 years old due to myelitis, a disease involving inflammation of the spinal cord. She became a quadriplegic after she was involved in a car accident in 1994, the same year she began competing. (IPC brochure, 2008) |
Other information |
RETURN TO COMPETITION
After competing at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing she participated in many other activities, including as an executive board member of the Organising Committee of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. In November 2014 she decided to return to competitive action because she wanted to inspire many young para-athletes ahead of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (yomiuri.co.jp, 21 May 2008; kanpara.com, 27 Jun 2015)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
She has served as an executive board member of the Organising Committee of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, a committee member of the Central Council for Education, an ambassador to Kawasaki Citizens Culture and a vice president of the Kanto Swimming Federation for the Disabled in Japan. (Athlete, 06 Sep 2016; kanpara.com, 27 Jun 2015) |
