The Video of Para-athletes

A video of messages from four para-athletes who will join the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is being released on Sunday 16 May, 100 days before the start of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

*In the order of appearance

SERYU Monika (Canoe)
IWABUCHI Koyo (Table Tennis)
HIROSE Junko (Judo)
IKE Yukinobu (Wheelchair Rugby)

Please see below for more on each athlete’s profile.

★SERYU Monika (Canoe)

Date of Birth: 17 November 1997
Born in Tokyo

• 2018: 8th Place in Women’s KL1/ 5th Place in Women’s VL2 at ICF Paracanoe World Cup 1 (Szeged, Hungary)
• 2018: 7th Place in Women’s KL1/ 1st Place in Women’s VL2 at ICF Paracanoe World Championships (Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal)
• 2019: 5th Place in Women’s KL1/ 1st Place in Women’s VL1 at ICF Paracanoe World Championships (Szeged, Hungary)
• 2019: 1st Place in Women’s KL1/ 1st Place in Women’s VL1 at Japan Paracanoe Championships (Sea Forest Waterway, Koto-ku, Tokyo)

SERYU Monika had belonged to a canoe club since junior high school aiming to join the 2013 National Sports Festival scheduled to be held in Tokyo. Unfortunately, she was injured during a PE class when she was in her 1st year of high school, and began using a wheelchair. After about one-year of rehabilitation, she returned to join a paracanoe competition in 2014. She competed in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and won 8th place. She is currently studying at the University of Tsukuba Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, and training with the hope of winning a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

★IWABUCHI Koyo (Table Tennis)

Date of Birth: December 14, 1994
Born in Tokyo

• World Ranking: 3rd (as of April 2020) *The ranking is currently frozen.
• 2018: 2nd Place in Men’s Singles at the Asian Para Games
• 2018: 1st Place in Men’s Team at the Asian Para Games
• 2018: 3rd place in Men’s Singles at the World Para Table Tennis Championships
• 2019: 1st Place in Men’s Singles & Team at the Mexico Open Para Table Tennis
• 2019: 2nd Place in Men’s Singles at the Asian Para Games
• 2019: 1st Place in Men’s Singles & 3rd Place in Men’s Team at the Dutch Open Para Table Tennis

IWABUCHI Koyo has limited range of motion in both ankles from birth and plays with a brace on his left foot. He began his career when he joined the table tennis club at his junior high school in his first year. He struggled at the beginning to adapt to the unique tactics and techniques of para table tennis. He gave thought to which style would best match his abilities. His efforts paid off in his final year of high school when he qualified for an international tournament. He competed in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games during his fourth year at Waseda University, but he returned empty-handed. He is determined to bring home a medal from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games to make up for his earlier defeat. Currently active as a professional para table tennis athlete, his goal is to win a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games to highlight para sports and promote their development.
(Partially extracted from his official website.)

★HIROSE Junko (Judo)

Date of Birth: October 12, 1990
Born in Yamaguchi

• World Ranking: 3rd (as of May 2021)
• 2018: 1st in Women’s Weight Class up to 57kg at the IBSA Judo World Cup (Antalya, Turkey)
• 2018: 3rd in Women’s Weight Class up to 57kg at the Asian Para Games (Jakarta, Indonesia)
• 2018: 2nd in Women’s Weight Class up to 57kg at the IBSA Judo World Championships (Odivelas, Portugal)
• 2019: 1st in Women’s Weight Class up to 57kg at the Tokyo International Judo Championships for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• 2019: 2nd in Women’s Weight Class up to 57kg at the IBSA Goalball & Judo International Qualifier
• 2019: 3rd in Women’s Weight Class up to 57kg at the IBSA Judo Grand Prix (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

Impressed by the heroine in a girl’s comic, HIROSE Junko started Judo when she was in the 5th grade of elementary school. At the university, she once stopped Judo. But in 2012, she became involved in Judo for the vision impaired. At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, she won a bronze medal in the women’s weight class up to 57kg. Currently training with her husband and coach, HIROSE Haruka, in Matsuyama, Ehime, she and her husband are both hoping to bring gold medals home from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

★IKE Yukinobu (Wheelchair Rugby)

Date of Birth: 21 July 1980
Born in Kochi

• World Ranking: 3rd (as of May 2021)
• 2018: 1st at the Tokyo Japan Para Wheelchair Rugby Championships
• 2018: 1st at the GIO 2018 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championship
• 2019: 2nd at the IWRF Asia-Oceania Wheelchair Rugby Championships
• 2019: 3rd at the World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge

IKE Yukinobu was involved in a traffic accident at the age of 19. Two years after the accident, he started playing wheelchair basketball. In 2012, he switched to wheelchair rugby. In 2013, he became an association-certified athlete; and in 2014, he became captain of the Japan National Wheelchair Rugby Team. The team won 1st place at the IWRF Asia-Oceania Wheelchair Rugby Championships in 2015 and qualified for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, where it won the team’s first bronze medal. At the GIO 2018 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championship, the team defeated Australia, which had taken the gold at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, in its home country, Australia, to bring home its first gold medal. IKE’s leadership and powerful performance that led the team to the win has impressed fans around the world.