Wheelchair Racer Sato Not Satisfied With Silver;Eyes Next Goal After Loss to Younger Rival in Paris

By Yoshinaga Azekawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Sportswriter

16:20 JST, August 31, 2024

PARIS — Paralympian Tomoki Sato had practiced hard to hone his starting dash skills to win the men’s 400-meter wheelchair race in the Paris Paralympics. The 34-year-old poured all the technique and strength he had developed into a race of less than 60 seconds, but could not beat Maxime Carabin, a 23-year-old rising star from Belgium.

“The result was all that mattered,” Sato said, accepting his defeat, and added, “It’s just super mortifying.”

Sato won the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 with no rivals on the horizon. Last year, however, Carabin suddenly burst onto the scene. At the World Championships in Paris last July, the Belgian rewrote the then-world record right before Sato’s eyes. In May, Carabin defeated Sato by more than four seconds at the World Championships in Kobe.

Since last year, Sato has been training under a Dutch coach. The Paralympian reviewed his form so that he could move his wheels faster and more efficiently. He also strove to improve his racing wheelchair — his partner in the competition.

In Friday’s race, Sato was able to show his progress by not falling behind at the start and holding the time difference to around one second at the end.

Japanese Paralympians used to dominate the wheelchair race in this classification for the severely physically impaired because of the high technological level of their wheelchairs.

Even earning silver with his 61-year-old compatriot Tomoya Ito taking bronze, Sato was not satisfied at all as a top racer.

“I’m definitely going to take [the gold] next time,” Sato said, clearly setting his next goal.