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