Rio de Janeiro Paralympics finished its
game schedule for twelve days. While Japan team obtained the greatest number of
medals in its history, it could get no gold medal for the first time. Athletic
skill of Paralympians in the world is abruptly improving, leaving Japanese
athletes behind. As the host country of next Paralympic Games in 2020 and the
place where first Paralympics was held in 1964, Japan needs to rebuild its
strategy.
About 4,300 athletes from 159 counties or
regions participated in Rio Paralympics. Russia was excluded with doping
scandal. In the closing ceremony on Sunday, Governor of Tokyo received the flag
of Paralympics. Athletes cerebrated finish of the event singing and dancing with
music performance by handicapped artists or acrobatic teams.
Rio Paralympics showed fast improvement of
sports by handicapped athletes. It produced 210 new world records, taking over
200 of London Paralympics four years ago. In men’s 1,500 meters run with
optical difficulty, four athletes defeated winning time of the same game in Rio
Olympics. In swimming, the time for bronze medal in Athens Paralympics became
as obsolete as being the time for finalists in Rio.
Japan team won 10 silver medals and 14
bronze medals in Rio with no gold medal. One of the most hopeful athletes, Atsushi
Yamamoto, who had been the world champion in men’s long jump, stayed at silver,
8 centimeters behind the gold. The winner, Markus Rehm from Germany, renewed
winning record by 86 centimeters. Having achieved four medals in swimming,
Japanese swimmer Kei-ichi Kimura regretted his performance, saying “I wanted a
gold rather than four medals.”
The top collector of gold medal was China. It
obtained 107, leaving United Kingdom with 64 behind in second position. It is
said that the technical improvement in Paralympics began at Beijing in 2008.
Since then, China has been reinforcing Paralympic athletes with national
support. Chinese government pays for athletic gym, housing or meal for
athletes. In Ukraine, which secured the third place in whole number of medals,
Paralympians have status of professional athletes supported by the government.
It is a great issue for Japan to raise its
Paralympians in next four years. Japanese Para-Sports Association has a goal of
seven gold medals by 2020. But, Japanese Paralympians are mainly supported by
their families or friends. Sufficient national support has not arrived on them.
Success in Tokyo Paralympics will depend on national budget for para-sports.
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