CANADA badminton player Yuka Chokyu said on Friday her experience was an advantage at the Paralympics despite being twice as old as the title holder in her category.
Chokyu, who turns 58 in December, is out of contention for a medal this time after two opening group stage defeats.
She may lack medals, but she compensates in longevity -- she is appearing at her fourth Games, having taken part in wheelchair tennis in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 editions.
“I’m facing all the youngsters,” Chokyu told reporters.
“They are strong so I have to use my brain and experience.
“Maybe a little bit strategy-wise I have to be more smart,” the Japanese-born shuttler added.
Chokyu, who was left unable to walk after a car accident, moved to North America in 1989, hoping to find an environment better adapted to wheelchair users like her.
She was inspired by Canadian Paralympic star and activist Rick Hansen, a three-time gold medallist in the 1980s.
“At that time to be in a wheelchair in Japan was very difficult. There was no awareness,” she said.
“So I decided, let’s leave and live in Canada. I heard the story about Rick Hansen and what he’d done for people in wheelchairs,” she added.
Despite her age, Chokyu remains almost two decades off Australian shooter Libby Kosmala’s record -- she featured at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 aged 74.
Chokyu is her adopted country’s only badminton player at Paralympics in the French capital, one of the world’s most visited cities. — AFP
