January 22, 2024
Bureau of Citizens, Culture and Sports

Legendary sprinter, ASAHARA Nobuharu has been appointed as a Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics Ambassador!
Fourth ambassador following NAGAHAMA Neru, KAWAMATA Ikumi, and KIKI

Two international sports competitions will be held in Tokyo in 2025: World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 and the 25th Summer Deaflympics Tokyo 2025. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government （TMG） is developing various initiatives to raise interest in both competitions, and to promote understanding of an inclusive society.

ASAHARA Nobuharu, who represented Japan as a former athletics athlete, has been appointed as a Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics ambassador. He will be the fourth ambassador following NAGAHAMA Neru, KAWAMATA Ikumi, and KIKI, and will appear at Deaflympics-related events, and contribute broadly to promoting the Deaflympics by sending messages through social media and other channels.

Please visit the website to learn more about the three Tokyo 2025 Deaflympic ambassadors who were appointed in October 2023.

About Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics Ambassador ASAHARA Nobuharu

One of the top athletes to represent Japan, he has competed in six past World Athletics Championships and won a silver medal in the Men's 4x100m relay at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. In addition to contributing to the sports world as a whole, including the development of the next generation of athletes even after his retirement, he is also actively involved in sports for people with disabilities, which is why he was chosen as an ambassador to further energize the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics.

ASAHARA Nobuharu

Born in 1972 in Hyogo Prefecture. Former representative of Japan’s national athletics sprints team

He has been involved in athletics since high school, and at university he set a Japanese record of 10.19 seconds in the Men’s 100m at the National Sports Festival. He was called the “Japanese Carl Lewis” because of his speed.
He has competed in the World Athletics Championships six times. At the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, he became the first Japanese athlete in 28 years to advance to the semifinals in the Men’s 100m. In the 4x100m relay at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, he led the national team to a long-awaited silver medal as an anchor athlete.

Comment

Thank you for appointing me as a Tokyo 2025 Deaflympic ambassador. With the Deaflympics being held for the first time in Japan, I would like to experience as many competitions as possible and interact with the athletes. I would also like to strive to make the Deaflympics known to as many people as possible.

As his first activity as an ambassador, he will participate in the “TOKYO FORWARD 2025 Athlete Exchange Event for KIDS”, an event that will be held on Sunday, February 25, where athletes, ambassadors and children can enjoy sports together whether they can hear or not.

Please visit the TOKYO FORWARD 2025 special website for details.（in Japanese）

※Reference Material(PDF:752KB)

※Please click here for the original Japanese release.

Inquiries

International Sports Events Section, International Sports Projects Division Breau of Citizens, Culture and Sports 03-5388-3699