New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) As the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships progress successfully in New Delhi, there are bound to be comparisons with the previous editions. But Japan’s representatives find Delhi as good as Kobe, though a bit hotter literally and figuratively, as they end their gold medal drought in WAPC 2025 on Friday.
The last World Para Athletics Championship was hosted by Kobe in Japan in 2024. The latest edition, the New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships, is underway at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital. The 61-member Japanese contingent, out of which 31 are athletes, is here in full force, and there is no one better than them to ask about how both editions compare.
Ayumi Hirayama, administrative personnel NPC Japan, chuckled when asked to make comparisons. “First and foremost, the weather is slightly different. Kobe is fairly hot and humid, but here it’s even more humid.”
Hirayama assures her that she is not complaining; she is just stating the facts. The weather is something that can’t be controlled. What about the event, which is India’s first-ever WPAC?
“The event is nicely organised. The volunteers here are putting in the hard yards. They are kind and working hard, helping us all around, playing their role to a tee to make it a successful event,” Hirayama said.
In Kobe, Japan picked up 21 medals in all, but there was no luck with gold medals. On that front, the Delhi edition is turning out to be very fruitful for them. On the opening day of the event itself, they picked up a gold medal all thanks to long-distance runner Kenya Karasawa, who won the men’s 500m T11 event.
And just as Hirayama was discussing earlier this week that they were targeting more gold this time round, another medal came their way as Ryutaro Kuno bagged a silver in the men’s 100m T12 dash. Hirayama, in the company of team leader Toru
Suzuki jumped up from her seat to celebrate Kuno’s success and said, “This is really nice. Really happy for him and the team.”
What else struck her about India? No prizes for guessing! Yes, it’s the food. “The food is very delicious here. Yes, a bit on the spicy side, but it’s so tasty. We are really enjoying the culinary delights of India,” she said.
By Friday evening, Japan had won three gold medals, and Hirayama was pleased as punch. “When we came here, we had 10 goals in mind, including one gold. Now we have won three gold medals. So, we are really happy. We hope to win two more gold medals,” she said. It may be noted that in the T52 400m wheelchair racing, Japan picked up all three medals on the line in what was a great show from them.
–IANS
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