is a Japanese

goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand a ...

player who won a gold medal at 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 ...

. She has

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

which caused her visual impairment. She started playing goalball when she was 16. Her father Mitsunori Kakehata (欠端光則) played professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

for the Yokohama Taiyo Whales (now

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

References

Paralympic gold medalists for Japan Goalball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Goalball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Yokohama 1993 births Living people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic goalball players of Japan Female goalball players People with albinism Paralympic medalists in goalball Goalball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women {{Goalball-bio-stub