NAGOYA - Japan's Kotaro Ogiwara finished top in the men's 100-meter backstroke S8 final for athletes with physical impairments at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games on Thursday, while wheelchair racer Tomoki Sato stood on top of the podium for the second consecutive day.
Ogiwara clocked an Asian Para Games record of 1 minute, 5.26 seconds to claim gold, and Kota Kubota, a silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, finished third in Nagoya.
"1:05.26 isn't my best time, but it's my first Asian title, so I think I'll just take it simply as something to be happy about," the 24-year-old Ogiwara said.
The captain of Japan's swimming team has already set his sights on gold at the next Paralympics. "I want a gold medal in Los Angeles. I need to find a way to shave another second off my time. I can't wait to get back to training," Ogiwara said.
Akito Minai won the men's 400-meter freestyle S10 final, and Kanon Fukuda also secured the women's 100-meter breaststroke SB8 title, with both classifications for swimmers with physical impairments.
In athletics, Sato won the men's 400-meter T51/T52 title, a day after finishing top in the 100-meter event in the classification for wheelchair racers with limited hand and finger function.
"I'm pleased to get a medal. Hearing the crowd chant 'Nippon' was very moving," Sato said.
Daiki Ishiyama won the men's 400-meter T12 final for sprinters with vision impairments at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
"I had heard that a lot of people from my company were coming to watch, and knowing that they were there really gave me an extra boost," said Ishiyama, who belongs to Aichi-based Toyota Motor Corp.
