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

Mariko Morimoto

Born in 1995 in Osaka. Japanese record holder of Women’s triple jump.（14m16） Graduated from Taisei Gakuin University High School and Japan Women's College of Physical Education. After working at Uchida Kensetsu, she joined Orient Corporation from Feb. 2024. Participated in national competitions in jumping events since her junior year. After entering university, she focused on triple jump, and in her third year in 2015, she won 2nd place at the Japan Interscholastic Championships with a jump of 12.58m. After graduating from university, she also worked as a bobsledder and participated in an international competition in 2019, showing her desire to participate in the Winter Olympics. After winning the Japan Championship for the first time in 2019, she has won an unprecedented six consecutive tournaments until 2024. At the 2023 Games, she jumped 14.16m, setting a new Japanese record for the first time in 24 years. In 2024, she became the first Japanese athlete to participate in the Olympics in the Women's triple jump. In both name and reality, she is a presence that opens the way to the world of similar events.

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Takuma Sasaki

Graduated from Morioka School for the Deaf and Sendai University. Currently, he is on an athlete employment contract and is a faculty member at his alma mater, Sendai University.
He started track and field at Hachinohe School for the Deaf Junior High School, and won first place in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay at the National School for the Deaf Track and Field Competition in his third year of high school at Morioka School for the Deaf. Starting with Sofia 2013, which he competed in while attending Sendai University, he has participated in three consecutive Deaflympics.
At the Samsung 2017 Games, he ran the anchor leg for the 4x100m relay and contributed to winning the gold medal. At the Caxias do Sul 2022 Deaflympics, he won gold medal in the 100m.

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Takuma Sasaki, Deaf Athletics – Chasing my dreams up until now, and hope to start to show my running from now on

“Winning the gold medal in the 100m at the Deaflympics”. That was a dream that Takuma Sasaki had for a long time. That dream was finally achieved for the third time at the Caxias do Sul 2022 Deaflympics. However, because he achieved everything, he struggled to maintain motivation. What made him motivated again? And what is he aiming for at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics? We asked him about his new dream.

Mio Nakata, Deaf Volleyball – To create “one point” that we can get excited about together

Mio Nakata has been leading the team for 11 years as a member of Deaf Volleyball Japan Women’s National Team. Volleyball has always been at the center of her life, and her attitude of keeping an inquisitive mind and working hard will never change. Where does her passion come from? What is the driving force behind her and her thoughts on the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, where she aims to win her second gold medal since the Samsung 2017 Games?

Mariko Morimoto, Athletics – In pursuit of the unfinished triple jump “Become to be 1% better than my yesterday’s self”

Triple jumper Mariko Morimoto took a historic step at the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer. She is the first Japanese female athlete to participate in the same event. The triple jump is an event in which Mikio Oda became the “first Japanese Olympic gold medalist” at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. And even after that, Japanese athletes continued to win gold medals in 1932 and 1936, and it was once called “Speciality of Japan.'' However, until now, female athletes have been blocked by the thick walls of the world and have not been able to participate in the Olympics. Mariko Morimoto is the person who pried open that closed door. We asked her about what she is aware of on a daily basis and her thoughts for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.

Joy McArthur, Athletics – Hammer throw which became the “meaning of life”. New heroine who loves Japan

Hammer throw was her first encounter with something that “made me want to put my life on the line for the first time” for Joy McArthur. Without any confidence and nothing that she wants to do. It wasn't until she started working on hammer throw that she was able to face herself.
In February 2022, she chose a Japanese citizenship, and in April of the following year, she broke the Japanese record held by Yuka Murofushi for the first time in 19 years. In April 2024, she marked 70m51, becoming the first Japanese woman to reach the 70m mark. The words of the 25-year-old, who suddenly became a new heroine, were not only about hammer throw, but also about her love for Japan, where she lived until she was eight years old.

Masaki SATO, Deaf Judo – “Life is bright even if you can’t hear” Yawara no michi (=the art of judo) that we want to pass on to the next generation

If I wear a judo uniform, I too can become the hero I admire-- I started judo from the pure heart of a child, and that's how I made my first friends. Now that he is an adult, he has become first in the world of deaf judo. Masaki Sato's eyes shine as he uses his own Yawara no michi (the art of judo)as a role model to convey the joy of life and judo to other deaf children. A judoka who is so dedicated to the sport that he even changed jobs in order to win a gold medal at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics. On the other hand, when he steps off the tatami mat, he is known to be a devoted husband which is not seen by many.