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

The photo of Takahashi sitting on the floor grasping her knees

Hitoshi Okumura

Graduated from Tsuruga High School and Kokushikan University. He has joined SENKO Co., Ltd. in April 2023. In addition to setting a junior high school record (17.85m/5kg) in his third year of junior high school, he also won the National Junior High School Athletic Festival with a new tournament record. At Tsuruga High School, he also participated in the Inter-High School Championships in the discus throw. After entering Kokushikan University, his potential blossomed, and he won the Japan Inter-College Meet (All Japan University Track & Field Challenge Meeting) in his fourth year. In 2023, the year after he became a member of society, he won the Japan Championships for the first time and finally became the top in Japan. In 2024, in addition to winning the Japan Championships for the second consecutive time, he won the All-Japan Business Team Championship and the National Sports Tournament to achieve the "National Triple Crown". In August of the same year, he hit an unprecedented 19-meter mark and became the strongest athlete in Japan in both name and reality. In 2025, he will challenge the world with the aim of achieving even greater heights.

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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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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.

Towa Uzawa, Athletics – A rare “nerdy” sprinter who turns “coincidence” into “inevitability”

Towa Uzawa, who competed in the men's 200m Japan national team at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has turned several "coincidences" into "inevitability" so far. He started track and field as soon as he entered high school because he injured his elbow and couldn't play baseball. Just a year and a half later, he achieved two titles in the 100m and 200m at the Inter-High Championships. As he continued to run, he accumulated the "unprecedented sensations" that he happened to obtain and made them his own. That's how the foundation of the sprinter who made it to the Olympics was laid. He is a 22-year-old "otaku" who loves manga, anime, and games. As the name "Towa" suggests, we will take a closer look at the genius who is about to spread his wings to the world.

Shingo Suetsugu, Athletics – “That’s why I run” The 44-year-old legend enjoys the “real challenge”

"Right now may be the most exciting time". Shingo Suetsugu said this happily, with a gentle smile on his face. At the 2003 World Athletics Championships in Paris, he became the first Japanese to win a bronze medal in the men's 200m in a sprint event. The 44-year-old, who has made a lot of history, including winning the silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, continues to compete as an active sprinter. He also announced his intention to take on the challenge of competing in the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 held this year. "Run for myself, and not for someone else". What is the new story spun by the legend who holds the Japanese 200m record (20.03 seconds), which has remained unbroken for over 20 years?