is a Japanese road and track cyclist in the C3 category from

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

. She changed her surname from to her maiden name Sugiura in 2018. She belongs to

Team Bridgestone Cycling Team Bridgestone Cycling () is a continental cycling team based in Japan that participates in UCI Continental Circuits races. The team's history can be traced back to 1964, but its current incarnation as the UCI registered road-racing team Team B ...

. She has also been active under the name of Yoshiko Sugiura since around 2019. Sugiura won the gold medal at the women's road time trial, 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 ...

Early life

Sugiura was born in Kakegawa,

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

on December 26, 1970. She attended Kakegawa Nishi High School and later Kitasato University Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. After graduating from college, she participated in triathlon and road racing as a hobby while working as a pharmacist and sports pharmacist.

Career

In April 2016, Sugiura was injured during a road race in Shizuoka, resulting in cerebral contusion, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, crushed fracture of skull, clavicle, ribs and scapula, and injuries to the trisection canal. Although she survived, doctors told her she could not heal from her condition, she still had higher brain dysfunction. During the rehabilitation, an acquaintance recommended paracycling, and in March 2017, she returned to the Utsunomiya Criterium & Road Race. After that, Sugiura registered as a para-cyclist. She won the gold metal in the time trial of the

2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships The 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships is the World Championships for road cycling for athletes with a physical disability. The Championships took place on the roads of Pietermaritzburg in South Africa from 31 August to 3 September 201 ...

and got a lot of attention. She also won the gold medal at 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in the road race. She was selected as one of the winners of the UCI (

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

) annual award, the Para-Cycling Award, for her success this season, including winning the afformentioned road race. The award was her first Japanese award. At the

, Sugiura won the gold medal at the women's road time trial. She thus became the oldest Japanese person to win a Paralympic gold medal at the age of 50. She also won the women's road race, becoming the first Japanese cyclist to win two gold medals in the same Paralympics.

Personal life

Sugiura has two children. Her son, Yuma Noguchi, is also a professional road cyclist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugiura, Keiko 1970 births Living people Japanese female cyclists Para-cyclists Japanese pharmacists Japanese disabled sportspeople Sportswomen with disabilities Paralympic cyclists for Japan Paralympic gold medalists for Japan Paralympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Shizuoka Prefecture People with traumatic brain injuries 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women