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Date of Birth: May 4, 1980 Amputation Level: Below the Knee Main Events: High Jump Competitive Class: F44 Össur Products: Flex-Foot Cheetah®, Re-Flex VSP® (opens in a new window)* Nationality: Japanese |
Toru Suzuki has high skill in sports as he was dreaming to be a professional hand ball player until he had a car accident. Following his amputation, he decided to continue with his athletic pursuits. He changed his discipline to high jump and it took him only 3 months to break a national record and he was chosen to participate in the Sydney Paralympic Games as the first amputee high jumper from Japan. Since then, his record has improved up to 2.00m. He attended the Sydney, Athens, and Beijing Paralympic Games where he placed in the top six. He was also chosen to be the first amputee flag-bearer for Japan at the Beijing Paralympics.
Toru Suzuki is currently ranked as the No.1 amputee high jumper in Asia and is the Asian & Japan record holder. He is the second lower limb amputee in the world who has jumped over 2.00m. He is well known and respected by people nationwide in Japan. Recently he was chosen as one of the top 35 athletes among Olympic champions in Japan. He is frequently invited to be a motivational speaker at schools and other venues.
Competitive Highlights:
2008 |
Paralympics, Beijing - 5th place |
2005 |
Japan National Paralympic Games |