Legendary sprinter, Nobuharu Asahara has been appointed as a Fourth Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics Ambassador!

Nobuharu Asahara, who represented Japan as a former athletics athlete, has been appointed as a Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics ambassador.

One of the top athletes to represent Japan, he has competed in six past World Athletics Championships and won a silver medal in the Men’s 4x100m relay at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. In addition to contributing to the sports world as a whole, including the development of the next generation of athletes even after his retirement, he is also actively involved in sports for people with disabilities, which is why he was chosen as an ambassador to further energize the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics.

He will be the fourth ambassador following Neru Nagahama, Ikumi Kawamata, and KIKI, and will appear at Deaflympics-related events, and contribute broadly to promoting the Deaflympics by sending messages through social media and other channels.

As his first activity as an ambassador, he will participate in the “TOKYO FORWARD 2025 Athlete Exchange Event for KIDS”, an event that will be held on Sunday, February 25, where athletes, ambassadors and children can enjoy sports together whether they can hear or not.
※Please visit the TOKYO FORWARD 2025 special website for details. (in Japanese)
　URL：https://www.tokyoforward2025.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/news240116/
　（Limited to about 30 people. Advance application required. Applications will be accepted until February 13, 2024.）

Nobuharu Asahara
Born in 1972 in Hyogo Prefecture. Former representative of Japan’s national athletics sprints team

He has been involved in athletics since high school, and at university he set a Japanese record of 10.19 seconds in the Men’s 100m at the National Sports Festival. He was called the “Japanese Carl Lewis” because of his speed.
He has competed in the World Athletics Championships six times. At the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, he became the first Japanese athlete in 28 years to advance to the semifinals in the Men’s 100m. In the 4x100m relay at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, he led the national team to a long-awaited silver medal as an anchor athlete.

<Comments>
Thank you for appointing me as a Tokyo 2025 Deaflympic ambassador. With the Deaflympics being held for the first time in Japan, I would like to experience as many competitions as possible and interact with the athletes. I would also like to strive to make the Deaflympics known to as many people as possible.

※Please visit the following URL to learn more about the three Tokyo 2025 Deaflympic ambassadors who were appointed in October 2023.
https://www.tokyoforward2025.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/news231006-en/

【TOKYO FORWARD 2025 Official Instagram】https://www.instagram.com/tokyo_forward_2025_official/