Yui Kamiji

Started: She began the sport in 2004 in Hyogo, Japan. (Athlete, 08 Sep 2016) Reason: She originally played wheelchair basketball while in primary school after being influenced by her parents, who competed in basketball. However, she switched to wheelchair tennis after her sister joined a soft tennis club at high school. "In wheelchair basketball, although it is a team sport, there were only adult players or physically bigger players, so as a small kid I struggled to score during games and felt disappointed. I thought, 'I want to play tennis like her [her sister]'." (Athlete, 26 Aug 2012; WOWOWofficial YouTube channel, 08 Aug 2019; cocacola.co.jp, 30 Oct 2019; asahi.com, 2016; itftennis.com, 16 Nov 2020) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympic.org, 20 Aug 2024) Milestones: She became the first non-Dutch female wheelchair tennis player to win the singles title at the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters, following her victory at the 2013 edition in Mission Viejo, CA, United States of America. (insidethegames.biz, 11 Nov 2013; itftennis.com, 16 Nov 2020) Awards: She was the final torchbearer alongside Japanese boccia athlete Shunsuke Uchida and Japanese powerlifter Karin Morisaki at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (Paralympic Games YouTube channel, 24 Aug 2021) She was flag bearer for Japan at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (tokyo2020.org, 12 Oct 2020; parasapo.tokyo, 20 Oct 2020) She has been presented with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award in Japan. (atpress.ne.jp, 09 Apr 2014) Additional Info: INSPIRED BY PARALYMPIC DEBUT Before she made her Paralympic debut at the 2012 Games in London, she was intending to quit the sport following the 2012 Games, and considered studying a language at university or becoming a court clerk. However, she decided to continue her sporting career after she was eliminated in the quarterfinals of both the women's singles and doubles in London. "My big goal was to participate in the Paralympic Games, so I thought that it would be the end of my tennis career once I realised it. Until I left for London, I only thought about what I would do next after the 2012 Games, and I wasn't really thinking about tennis. But it was a big regret that I did not get further at the 2012 Paralympics. I was disappointed, so I wanted to continue playing a bit longer. If I had won gold in 2012, I might have then quit the sport." (cocacola.co.jp, 30 Oct 2019; olympics.com, 12 Oct 2020)