Japan at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Japan at the Paralympic Games
Flag of Japan IPC code  JPN NPC Japanese Paralympic Committee
At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in
Competitors	' in ' sports
Medals	Gold 0	Silver 0	Bronze 0	Total 0
Paralympic history (summary)
Summer Games
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Winter Games
1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

Japan is planning to send athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country qualified athletes in cycling, goalball, sailing, and wheelchair basketball.

Support

In September 2015, a representative from the country attended the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Chef de Mission seminar as part of the country's preparation efforts for the 2016 Games.^[1][2]

Disability classifications

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.^[3][4] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.^[5]

Cycling

With one pathway for qualification being one highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists on 31 December 2014, Japan qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, assuming they continued to meet all other eligibility requirements.^[6][7]

Goalball

The Japan women's national goalball team qualified for the Rio Games after finishing first at the 2015 IBSA Goalball Asian-Pacific Championships.^[8][9]

Sailing

One pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top seven finish at the 2015 Combined World Championships in a medal event where the country had nor already qualified through via the 2014 IFDS Sailing World Championships. Japan qualified for the 2016 Games under this criteria in the Sonar event with a sixteenth place finish overall and the seventh country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships. The boat was crewed by Shinya Yamamoto, Junichi Ohnuma and Koji Ishii.^[10][11][12]

Shooting

The first opportunity to qualify for shooting at the Rio Games took place at the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl. Shooters earned spots for their NPC. Japan earned a qualifying spot at this event in the R5 – 10m Air Rifle Mixed Prone SH2 event as a result of the performance Akiko Sega. It was the only qualification spot Japan earned at the event.^[13][14][15]

Swimming

The top two finishers in each Rio medal event at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships earned a qualifying spot for their country for Rio. Yasuhiro Tanaka earned Japan a spot after winning silver in the Men's 100m Breaststroke SB14.^[16][17]

Wheelchair basketball

The Japan men's national wheelchair basketball team has qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympics.^[18]

Wheelchair tennis

Shingo Kunieda is expected to represent Japan in wheelchair tennis. He would go to Rio as the defending 2008 and 2012 Paralympic gold medalist.^[19]

See also

• Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics

References

1. "Nations officially invited to Rio 2016 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
2. "Vietnam looks towards 2016 Rio Paralympics". Nhan Dan. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
3. "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
4. "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
5. "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
6. "CYCLING QUALIFICATION" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
7. "Ranking — PARA — Cycling 2014". UCI. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
8. "Goalball Qualification System" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
9. "Download — xlsx — IBSA Goalball Asian-Pacific Championships 2015 - results". International Paralympic Blind Sports Association. 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
10. "Sailing Qualification" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
11. "Sonar". Royal Yacht Club Victoria. 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
12. "Ten countries guarantee their place in the Rio 2016 Paralympic sailing competition". Rio 2016 Official Website. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
13. "Shooters from 28 countries claim 63 spots at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games". Rio 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
14. "Shooting Qualification" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
15. "Official Results Book" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
16. "Swimming QUALIFICATION" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
17. "Daily Medallists". International Paralympic Committee. July 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
18. "Rio 2016 Paralympic Games". Wheechair Basketball Canada. 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
19. "The Paralympian" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.