In 2006 while working at a paint factory she was struck by a 5-tonne steel frame. Her right lower leg was amputated below the knee. After finding the transition back to tennis difficult she was encouraged to switch to track and field and quickly found success, setting Japanese records in the F44 category for the 100 and 200 meter events shortly after.
Nakanishi competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, where she placed 4th in the women's 200 m F44 event, and finished sixth in the women's 100 metres.
Due to lack of funds, Nakanishi was unable to participate in the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. Japanese government support for Paralympic athletes is limited, and while training for the London Olympics in 2012 she found it difficult to raise enough funds to compete and to purchase a new prosthetic leg.
On 7 September 2014, Nakanishi won the T44 long jump at the Japan Para Championships, setting a personal record at 5.33 m. The International Paralympic Committee recognized this as a Japanese record.
How fast do you think Usain Bolt would be if you let him wear shoes like that? 40mph? 50mph?
ReplyDeleteYou can get shoes like that if you really want them. Just head to the backyard and smash your knees whit a 20 lb. sledge hammer.
DeleteThe average human can run around 17 MPH. The fastest runner was clocked at 24 MPH.
ReplyDeleteI applaud all that she has been able to accomplish. But let's NOT kid ourselves. That leg is a SERIOUS ADVANTAGE if utilized well. Same as with Oscar Pistorious and his fake legs. Yes, we all feel sorry about your injuries, but you DO NOT get to compete against folks with flesh and blood appendages.
ReplyDeleteRead the story. She's competing against other paraplegics.
ReplyDeleteWasn't saying she wasn't. Just emphasizing the point. Oscar was allowed to run against two-legged men.
Delete...full-legged men
DeleteThe notion that a prosthetic leg is somehow an advantage has to be stupidest thing I heard in a long time. Reach out to the random amputee you meet on a street if the think losing their limb gave them some kind of benefit and pay attention to the look on their face as you ask your question.
ReplyDeleteThese carbon blades are nothing more that fancy springs. They don't create energy they only return portion of the energy delivered by the athlete's remaining muscles. The idea that a runner that has lost every muscle bellow the knee will somehow be able to deliver more energy than an athlete with a full leg is stupid.
I volunteered at countless Paralympic track and field meets. All these people are first and foremost amazing athletes that happen to be missing a limb or have some other challenge that makes their lives harder that it has to be. There is not one of them that would give everything just to have their limbs back, avoid the stares, the uncomfortable looks, the school bulling, etc.
Having spent most of my working life in a VA hospital, I find your comment to be spot on.
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