Paralympics: Japan's Suzuki, Michishita win marathon bronze
Japanese wheelchair racer Tomoki Suzuki and para runner Misato Michishita both won bronze in Paralympic marathon events Sunday, bringing Japan's total medal tally to 41 on the final day of the Paris Games.
Japanese wheelchair racer Tomoki Suzuki (L) competes in the Paris Paralympics men's T54 marathon in Paris on Sept. 8, 2024.(Kyodo)
Japan racked up a total of 14 gold, 10 silver and 17 bronze medals during the Paris Games, ranking 11th overall. Notable first-time gold medals included those won in wheelchair rugby, men's goalball and the women's and men's singles in wheelchair tennis.
Suzuki clocked a time of 1 hour, 31 minutes, 23 seconds in the men's T54 category, just four seconds behind China's Jin Hua who earned silver, and gold medalist Marcel Hug of Switzerland who timed 1:27.39. Fellow Japanese Ryota Yoshida placed eighth.
Japan's Tomoki Suzuki shows off his bronze medal after the Paris Paralympics men's T54 marathon in Paris on Sept. 8, 2024. (Kyodo)
"I'm really very happy. It was a very tough course. Towards the end, there were times I thought I might run out of steam," said Suzuki, who damaged his spinal cord as an infant in a car accident.
"But I learned from my parents about not giving up...I'm really happy to make history, and to do my parents and our family name proud."
The grueling 42.195-kilometer race began in Seine-Saint-Denis outside Paris and ended on the Esplanade des Invalides in the heart of the French capital.
Japanese para athlete Misato Michishita (L) competes in the Paris Paralympics women's T12 marathon in Paris on Sept. 8, 2024. (Kyodo)
Japan's Misato Michishita shows off her bronze medal after the Paris Paralympics women's T12 marathon in Paris on Sept. 8, 2024. (Kyodo)
Tokyo Games champion and world record holder Michishita initially seemed to have missed a spot on the podium on for the women's T12 race for visually impaired athletes, before the disqualification of Elena Congost of Spain bumped her up to third place.
In the men's T12 race, Tadashi Horikoshi came seventh, Shinya Wada finished ninth as he did at the Tokyo Games, and Yutaka Kumagai 10th.
In in the women's T54 event, Wakako Tsuchida and Tsubasa Kina came in sixth and 12th place respectively.
The games will close later Sunday with a ceremony at the athletics venue of Stade de France, just outside Paris.
Related coverage:
Paralympics: Japan's Tokito Oda wins 1st singles wheelchair tennis gold
Paralympics: 53-yr-old cyclist Keiko Sugiura shines on podium again
Paralympics: Seto, Hirose judo golds lead Japan's 9-medal rush
