Wakako Tsuchida

Wakako Tsuchida

Tsuchida (front) at the 2014 London Marathon.
Personal information
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1974-10-15) 15 October 1974
Sport
Country	Japan
Sport	Paralympic athletics
Medal record Winter Paralympic Games 1998 Nagano 1000 m LW11 1998 Nagano 1500 m LW11 1998 Nagano 100 m LW11 1998 Nagano 400 m LW11 Summer Paralympic Games 2004 Athens 5000m - T54 2004 Athens Marathon - T54 2000 Sydney Marathon - T54 IPC World Championships 2011 Christchurch 1,500m - T54 2013 Lyon Marathon - T54 2013 Lyon 1,500m - T54

Wakako Tsuchida (土田 和歌子, Tsuchida Wakako) (born 15 October 1974) is an athlete from Tokyo, Japan, who is an accomplished women's wheelchair marathoner and ice sledge racer. She was the first professional wheelchair athlete from Japan^[1] and the first Japanese athlete to win gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Paralympics.^[2] She has paraplegia.

Career

She has won the women's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon five times, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011; the Honolulu Marathon twice, in 2003 and 2005, the Oita Marathon four times, in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003^[2] and the 2010 London Marathon with a time of 1:52:33.^[3] She competed at the 2012 Boston Marathon and in a close finish she was one second behind the winner Shirley Reilly.^[4]

At the 2000 Summer Paralympics 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.^[5] Her personal best is 1:38:32, which she accomplished at the 2001 Oita Marathon.^[2]

She competed in ice sledge racing at the Winter Paralympics in 1994 and 1998, winning two golds and two silvers the latter year.^[5] She has also won medals in sledge racing's IPC World Championships.^[2]

References