Tomoya Ito

(born 16 August 1963) is a professional Japanese wheelchair Paralympic athlete from Suzuka, Mie, Japan, and a former entrepreneur.

Biography

1998 During a business trip, he fell down and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. During his first treatment, he placed the order for a racing wheelchair by mistake. This mistake triggered him to start competing. 2002 He founded a non-profit organization, "Gold Athlete" to support athletes of disabled sports. 2004 Attended the 2004 Summer Paralympics, in Athens 2005 Became a professional athlete. He was enlisted to the Hall of Fame at The Museum of Marathon in Greece. He was the first Paralympic athlete to be enlisted. 2008 won two gold medals at 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He also marked the world record at Men's T52 800m round 1.

Biography References

Mie TV "Tottemo Waku-doki" on 6, October, 2008 Cable Net Suzuka "Ito Tomoya Beijing Paralympic Special Program" in Oct 2008

Records

400m T52 57.25 Japan National Record 800m T52 1:52.31 World Record Marathon T52 1:52:36

As of December 2008