It’s day two of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and Japan has finally won its first gold medal of the Games. 34-year-old swimmer Takayuki Suzuki picks up Japan’s first gold in the men’s 100m freestyle (S4 category). This brings his medal count up to two thus far, as he also won a bronze medal yesterday in the men’s 50m breaststroke (SB3 category).
For the win, Suzuki finished the 100 metres in just 1 minute and 21.58 seconds. Luigi Beggiato from Italy claimed silver while Roman Zhdanov from the Russian Paralympic Committee took bronze.
A 17 year record has been broken! We have a new PR in the Men's 100m Freestyle - S4 💥#Gold - Takayuki Suzuki #JPN#Silver - Luigi Beggiato #ITA#Bronze - Roman Zhdanov #RPC#ParaSwimming #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 26, 2021
Suzuki’s gold medal win also broke the Paralympic record in the category, which was previously held by another Japanese swimmer, Yuji Hanada, from the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. Hanada’s time was marked at 1 minute and 22.77 seconds.
This is Japan’s third swimming medal of the Paralympics thus far, adding to Suzuki’s bronze medal and 14-year-old Miyuki Yamada’s silver medal win yesterday.
Stay on top of the Paralympics by streaming the events online for free. You can also keep tabs with our Tokyo 2020 Paralympic medal tally for Japan.
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