Tokyo, 8 March, /AJMEDIA
Taiki Kawayoke won the men’s long distance standing cross-country skiing gold for Japan on Monday, giving the country its first medal in the sport at the Beijing Paralympics.
By winning the classical technique event, two-time Paralympian Kawayoke earned his first-ever medal.
The 21-year-old finished the 20-kilometer race in 52 minutes, 52.8 seconds after the classification calculation was made, more than 90 seconds clear of silver medalist Cai Jiayun of China. Another Chinese athlete, Qiu Mingyang, claimed bronze.
“I feel like I have grown a lot in the past four years,” said Kawayoke. “I am happy I won gold…now I want to keep doing my best so I can aim even higher.”
Japan’s opening ceremony flag bearer, Kawayoke is expected to compete in two more events at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre before the games end on Sunday.
Forty-one-year-old veteran Yoshihiro Nitta, a seven-time Paralympian who inspired Kawayoke to take up the sport, finished in seventh, almost five minutes behind his countryman.
“I am happy to see Kawayoke win his medal,” Nitta said. “I didn’t win a medal but still will have good memories from the games.”
“I felt comfortable during the race and was able to push all the way to the end.”
The other Japanese in the field, Keigo Iwamoto, crossed in 13th.