Keiko Sugiura won the women's cycling C1-3 road race on Friday to become the first Japanese para cyclist to capture two gold medals at the same Paralympic Games.
Sugiura won the road time trial three days earlier to become the oldest Japanese para athlete to take a gold medal. Following that triumph, the 50-year-old tried not to lose the nervous energy.
"It would be all over if I relaxed," Sugiura said after the time trial.
As a result, she extended her own record as the oldest Japanese gold medalist at the Paralympics.
"Now I can relax and sleep all sprawled out," Sugiura said of being relieved from all the pressures she faced.
The race consisted of three laps around the 13.2-kilometer course that runs inside and outside at the Fuji International Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Sugiura thought the climb in the final portion of the race would be a critical point when she planned her race strategy.
The race came down to the late climb, about 3 kilometers from the finish line.
Sugiura broke away from the peloton, and a Chinese cyclist charged after her. Sugiura figured it wouldn't be so easy to break away from the pack alone, but she had a plan. There was a long climb just ahead.
"I attacked and then took it easy a little. Then I attacked again and eased up," Sugiura said. "I was trying to wear her legs out."
The repeated tactic was a success as she held off her rival and rode solo down the final straight.
The past year, Sugiura trained hard to be able to control races. She used high-intensity interval training, pedaling hard for 30 seconds and taking it easy a while before repeating the process over an extended period. The gold medals are result of this kind of hard work.
She said every day has been a challenge in an effort to break her own records. While she was starting to feel physically weak, Suguira has kept a positive attitude.
"I experienced some tough times and I'm not sure I can go through that again," Sugiura said.
"Having said that, I might go back and do it all again," she said with a smile.
Sugiura had enjoyed sports, including the triathlon, among her hobbies, but she became para athlete after a 2016 accident during a bicycle race.
The Tokyo Games were postponed for a year, but Sugiura made more history at the Paralympics. For her, bike racing mirrors her path in life.
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