Aramitsu Kitazono (born 17 February 1991) is a Japanese visually impaired Paralympic judoka. He made his maiden Paralympic appearance during the
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
. He was set to represent
Japan at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Japan competed as the host nation of the 2020 Summer Paralympics in their capital Tokyo from 24 August to 5 September 2021.
Medalists
Competitors
The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:
Archery
Japan f ...
in the
judoka competition but had to withdraw from the event after being hit by a self driving bus.
Career
He represented
Japan at the 2012 Summer Paralympics which was his first Paralympic appearance and competed in
men's 100kg event. He also represented
Japan at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and took part in the
men's 73kg event. He claimed a bronze medal in the
men's 81kg event at the
2018 Asian Para Games which was held in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
.
2020 Tokyo Paralympics
He was scheduled to compete in the round of 16 event of the
men's 81kg category at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
on 28 August 2021 and it would have been his
third Paralympic appearance for Japan. However, he was forced to withdraw at the last minute two days before his scheduled event after sustaining injuries to his head and legs during an accident which happened on 26 August 2021 at the Paralympics athletes village. It was revealed that Aramitsu was hit by a
Toyota e-Palette
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
driverless vehicle when he was walking on a
pedestrian crossing
A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road sig ...
and the vehicle was blamed for its technical fault.
According to reports, the driverless vehicle which caused the accident had been operated by
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
and the accident prompted the company to temporarily suspend the e-Palette driverless vehicle service. According to the
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister.
The Tokyo Metro ...
, he needs to rest for at least two weeks in order to recover from the injuries. President of Toyota,
Akio Toyoda
is a Japanese business executive and the current president of Toyota Motor Corporation. He is the great-grandson of the Japanese industrialist, Sakichi Toyoda, and the grandson of both the founder of Toyota Motors, Kiichiro Toyoda, and the found ...
, personally intervened into the matter and apologised to Aramitsu stating that there had been overconfidence in the technology of autonomous driving. His opponent
Dmytro Solovey
Dmytro Solovey (born 28 September 1993) is a visually impaired Ukrainian Paralympic judoka. He represented Ukraine at the Summer Paralympics in 2012, 2016 and 2021. He won two medals: the gold medal in the men's 73 kg event in 2012 and the silv ...
of Ukraine automatically qualified to the quarterfinals as a result of Aramitsu's late withdrawal.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitazono, Aramitsu
1991 births
Living people
Japanese male judoka
Visually impaired category Paralympic competitors
Judoka at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Judoka at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Paralympic judoka for Japan
Sportspeople from Kobe
Judoka at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
20th-century Japanese people
21st-century Japanese people
Japanese blind people