Silver medal-winning middle school swimmer Miyuki Yamada is an admirer of a para swimmer who is about her grandmother's age.
When asked before the Games about whom she respected the most, the young swimmer immediately replied "Ms. Sakuko Kato."
"She is kind to everyone, swims very fast and is popular," Yamada said.
The 14-year-old rising star, who was born without arms, earned silver medals in the women's 50-meter and 100-meter backstroke S2, a category for those with physical impairments, in the Tokyo Paralympics.
The two first met in November 2016 at a national championship in Fukuoka Prefecture. Kato, a 2000 Sydney gold medalist with a leg impairment, said she remembers a young girl being in the next lane. The girl was Yamada, who was in fourth grade at the time. Kato won the race.
Kato told Yamada, "If you work hard, your time will keep getting better," and Yamada replied, "Thank you," with starry eyes, Kato recalled.
Kato thinks of Yamada as a granddaughter and before competitions tells her to "enjoy the race."
"I was very scared being in unfamiliar places surrounded by athletes who are older than me, but Sakuko reassured me," Yamada said.
Kato once gave Yamada swimming goggles for a birthday present.
When Yamada told Kato that she might not be able to go to overseas training camps for financial reasons, Kato encouraged her by saying, "Children don't have to worry about that. If you try hard, everyone will help you."
In 2019, Yamada was chosen to be in a swimming association's player development program and went to a training camp in Australia with Kato in February last year. They did not train in the same group because they are in different disability classes, but Kato was happy to see that her "granddaughter" swam well enough to almost get a medal.
Yamada beamed on the podium on Thursday, sporting a smile as bright as the silver medal on her chest.
"I owe it to my colleagues, including Sakuko, who have supported me. I really want to thank them," Yamada said.
"She had a great smile," Kato said from her home after watching the race. "I earned my gold in the relay, but Miyuki won two medals in individual events. She is a top athlete, and I respect her."
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