Chihiro Kitada (born 12 January 1989) is a Japanese wheelchair basketball player (4.5 wheelchair basketball classification). She is a member of the Japan women's national wheelchair basketball team and her club Cocktail. In 2021 she competed at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

Life

Due to polyneuropathy, an progressive illness affecting functions of peripheral nerves, she has impairment of her lower limbs. She started with wheelchair basketball after being introduced by a former player during an internship at a Para sports centre in 2009. She started playing with the men's team Kitakyushu Adachi. She became four times "Most Valuable Player" at the All Japan Championships between 2012 and 2019. With the national team she competed at the 2014 World Championships. After the national team didn't qualify for the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, she decided to move to Australia in April 2016. In Australia she played with the Western Stars for two seasons. She returned to Japan in 2018. She won with the Japanese national team the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta. She competed at the 2019 Asia Oceania Championships. Kitada sustained an wrist injury during the 2020 Empress's Cup.

References

Other websites

Chihiro Kitada (JPN), OCTOBER 10, 2015 Basketball IWBF Asia Oceania Championship

Chihiro Kitada #18 of Team Japan prepares to shoot against Team Australia
Photo by Carmen Mandato {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitada, Chihiro 1989 births Living people Japanese wheelchair basketball players