Paris 2024: Yui Kamiji: Every moment at a Paralympic Games is special

It is fair to say that Japan's Yui Kamiji has had her ups and downs at the Paralympic Games.

But with the start of the wheelchair tennis competitions at the Paris 2024 Paralympics only days away, the 30-year-old is steadfast in her view that, irrespective of whether on-court targets are met, every Paralympic moment is special.

Paris 2024 will be Kamiji’s fourth Paralympic Games, and she will once again be among the favourites to medal in the women’s competition when play gets underway on 30 August.

Her medal haul so far is impressive. After failing to make the podium at London 2012, Kamiji won bronze in both singles and doubles in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 followed by silver in singles at Tokyo 2020 and bronze in doubles.

“Every Paralympic moment is very emotional and important to me,” said eight-time Grand Slam singles champion Kamiji.

“At my first Games, I went to the Opening Ceremony and I had never seen anything like that before. It was so good to combine with athletes from other sports and countries.

“Then at Rio, I won my first Paralympic medal and then the Tokyo Games were in my home country, which was very special. I won two medals there, so every time has been memorable.

“Also for me, when I was young, I did not watch much tennis on television. I would watch wheelchair tennis and, before I watched the Grand Slams, I watched the Paralympics.

“As I was watching I was like, ‘I want to play there’. Now I have competed at three Paralympic Games, which is a dream. I cannot wait to compete in Paris.”

In some ways, merely listing Kamiji’s achievements does not tell the full story. The former world No. 1 was Japan’s flagbearer at Rio 2016 and expectations were high, only for exasperation to emerge.

“I felt nothing but frustration after those Games,” added Kamiji. “I did feel the relief of earning a bronze medal, but I wasn’t happy. At London 2012, I wasn’t able to progress beyond the quarter-finals, but I had great fun because it was my first Paralympics.

“In Rio, I can’t say that I had much fun. Like I say, more than anything, I felt frustration and disappointment.”

In many respects, Tokyo was a different animal and, while despondency will always follow defeat, Kamiji ran into the all-conquering Diede de Groot in the women’s singles final.

Kamiji, who became the first wheelchair tennis player in history to light the Paralympic Cauldron that heralds the start of the Games, succumbed. Victory ensured De Groot took a significant step on the road to an unprecedented wheelchair tennis calendar Golden Slam.

The Paris 2024 Paralympics will feature as many as 96 wheelchair tennis athletes competing in six medal events.  The competition will take place at the iconic Roland-Garros Stadium, which stages the French Open every year.

De Groot, who won the women's singles at this year's French Open, is likely to have a sizeable say in proceedings in Paris. But Kamiji also has unfinished business.

The Japanese wheelchair tennis star will head into the Games on the back of a solid season – her best in a Paralympic year in terms of trophies accrued – and her Paralympic results tend to get better with every passing Games. She is also one of just two players to have defeated De Groot this season - at the Lexus British Open Roehampton in July.

With the Paralympics less than two weeks away, don't miss out on the wheelchair tennis action in the French capital. 

Discover more about wheelchair tennis and sports in the Paris 2024 Paralympic sports programme