(born 15 October 1974) is an athlete from

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, who is an accomplished women's

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

marathoner, ice sledge racer and triathlete. She was the first professional wheelchair athlete from Japan and the first Japanese athlete to win gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She has

paraplegia Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

Career

She has won the women's wheelchair division of the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

five times, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011; the

Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii, first held in 1973. It is one of the world's largest marathons, taking place annually on the second Sunday i ...

twice, in 2003 and 2005, the Oita Marathon four times, in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and the

2010 London Marathon The 2010 London Marathon was the 30th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 25 April. The elite men's race was won by Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede in a time of 2:05:19 hours and the elite women's ...

with a time of 1:52:33. She competed at the

2012 Boston Marathon The 2012 Boston Marathon took place in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday April 16, 2012. It was the 116th edition of the mass-participation marathon. Organized by the Boston Athletic Association, it was the first of the World Marathon Majors seri ...

and in a close finish she was one second behind the winner

Shirley Reilly Shirley Reilly (born May 29, 1985) is an American wheelchair racer who competes in track races and the marathon distance in the T53/T54 categories.

. At the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

she took a bronze medal in the marathon, while at the 2004 Games she won a gold medal in the 5000 metres and a silver in the marathon. Her personal best is 1:38:32, which she accomplished at the 2001 Oita Marathon. She competed in ice sledge racing at the Winter Paralympics in 1994 and 1998, winning two golds and two silvers the latter year. She has also won medals in sledge racing's IPC World Championships. Tsuchida was one of the final torchbearers during the opening ceremonies of 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 ...

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people Japanese female wheelchair racers Paralympic athletes for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic ice sledge speed racers for Japan Ice sledge speed racers at the 1994 Winter Paralympics Ice sledge speed racers at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Japan Paralympic silver medalists for Japan Paralympic bronze medalists for Japan Wheelchair racers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Paralympic wheelchair racers People with paraplegia Medalists at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women {{Japan-Paralympic-medalist-stub