ATHLETE

Meet the Athletes

Get to know the participating world-class athletes, and discover what makes each one of them superhuman.

Athletics athlete
Deaflympics athlete

Hiroki Yanagita

Graduated from the Second High School of Tokyo University of Agriculture and is a fourth-year student at Toyo University's Faculty of Literature. Under the influence of his parents, he started track and field when he was in elementary school, and in the second year of junior high school, he placed third in the long jump at the Junior Olympics. In 2020, when he was in his second year in high school, he participated in the Seiko Golden Grand Prix track and field as a special high school student and set a record (10.27 seconds) in the 100m, which was the sixth best in high school history at the time. At the Japan Championships in the same year, he was the only high school student to reach the final and finished seventh. After going to university, he set a new personal best of 10.02 seconds at the Asian Championships in 2023 and reached the semifinals of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in the same year. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, he was the second qualifying runner in the 4×100m relay. This season, at the Kanto Intercollegiate, he set a tailwind record of 9.95 seconds. At the Asian Championships in May, he became the first in Japanese history to win back-to-back titles in the same event and have been steadily winning back-to-back matches. Aiming for even greater heights, he will take on the challenge of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025.

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Fuga Miyagawa

He has congenital hearing loss and lives with hearing aids. In high school, he started playing tennis at an early age and enrolled in Salyut Tennis College, which specializes in tennis. At the age of 20, he embarked on a career in deaf tennis, winning the singles title at the JDTA Championships for the second year in a row starting in 2023. At last year's “Deaf Tennis 2024 Global Challenge”, he teamed up with his sister Yuria Miyagawa to win the mixed doubles title without losing from the preliminary round.
Currently, he is the chief coach at Mizuno Sports Plaza Fujisawa SST, where he spends his days devoting himself to tennis. No. 1 athlete in the JDTA Men's Ranking. Under the name of being the strongest in Japan, he aims to perform well at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics.

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Track and field athlete Hiroki Yanagita | Mindless, steady and consistent. The day when the man who cried in 0.005 seconds laughs at the world

Born into a track and field family, running has been a part of his life since childhood. From his blossoming talent, he has grown into one of the top sprinters in Japan and has begun to make his mark on the big stages such as the World Athletics Championships and the Olympics.
Contrary to his cheerful personality from the first impression, he has a calm and solid face who says, "I am a realistic type and do not set outlandish goals." "If I can qualify for the World Athletics Championships, I want to do my best in the semi-finals." When he said this, his unwavering determination and sincere desire for competition were alive in his heart.
We interviewed Hiroki Yanagita, who is taking on the world, about his encounter with track and field, his daily training, and his goals for the future.

Track and Field athlete, Asuka Terada | The most intense time of her life. Now, carving out the “final chapter” that she can be proud of

"Are you sure you're quitting?" Asuka Terada, a 35-year-old women's 100m hurdler, has heard such voice. Despite announcing her retirement from the front lines of competition in April this year, she continued to perform well in the Fuse Sprint (won in 12.85 seconds) and the Taiwan Open (second in 13.04 seconds) in June.
Still, her decision is unwavering. "Because I have a limited amount of time, I want to spend it intensely." After leaving track and field for a while, she returned to the sport in 2019 after getting married, going to school, having birth, and trying rugby. In the same year, she set the Japanese record (12.97 seconds) at the time and participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
We asked Terada, who has led such an eventful competitive life, about her thoughts on the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025, which will be her final challenge.

Fuga Miyagawa, Deaf Tennis ― Will there be “Festivities” A dream festival challenged by a new rising star

Since he first picked up a racquet at the age of four, Fuga Miyagawa has always been associated with tennis. The moment he felt an accomplishment in the world was when he won the mixed doubles title at the first international tournament held in Japan in 2024. At the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, which will be his first stage, he will compete in all events including singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Eye-catching blonde hair and clear straight eyes. "I want people to see me 'letting loose and having fun' at the venue," says Miyagawa with a smile, and we asked him about his thoughts on tennis, the Deaflympics, and his personal life as a lover of motorcycles and second-hand clothes.

Ryo Ogura, Deaf Karate – Karate-do honed in a soundless world. Winning two events in a row in Tokyo?

Ryo Ogura won the gold medal in both kata and kumite at the last Deaflympics. Her strong gaze, which has risen to the top of the world while participating for the first time, grabs the hearts of viewers and overwhelms them. When Ryo Ogura took off her karate uniform, she showed a soft and fluffy expression that frequently changed. What is the Karate-do that Ryo Ogura with such an adorable turn-on gap should aim for in 2025.

Hitoshi Okumura, Athletics – The first Japanese to reach the 20m mark. Big throw to the world that the shot put champion aims for

Hitoshi Okumura, a two-time defending champion in the men's shot put Japan Championships, broke the Japanese record in August 2024 with a mark of 19.09m. The 19m mark is the first for a Japan to achieve this feat. While he has opened the door of history, the current situation is that there is still a big gap between the rest of the world for shot put. In order to throw a block of metal weighing 7.26 kg as far as 1 centimeter, Hitoshi Okumura has been continuing to make trial and error attempts. With a height of 190 cm and a weight of 150 kg, his physique is comparable to that of foreign athletes, but he is inferior in absolute power, and the hurdles he must overcome are high. We asked the 24-year-old, who is taking on the world's toughest athletes, about how he approaches the sport and his thoughts on the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.