Dialing in her prosthesis allowed sprinter Sae Tsuji to optimize her on-track performance, helping the para athlete in her quest for a Tokyo Paralympic medal in the women's T47 class for athletes with below elbow amputations and deficiency.
The 26-year-old Japanese is hopeful to return to the podium at the Tokyo Paralympics and show the world that she has overcome the post-games slump she experienced after winning T47 400 meters bronze in Rio in 2016.
Sae Tsuji of Japan runs in the women's T47 400 meters during a Paralympic athletics test event at an empty National Stadium in Tokyo on May 11, 2021, with spectators not allowed due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The heats for the 400 will be held Friday and the final on Saturday, both at the National Stadium in Tokyo. Tsuji will also compete over 200 on Sept. 4.
"Momentum helped me win (a bronze in Rio) when I didn't really understand what the Paralympics are all about," Tsuji said.
"Through my ups and downs, I reflected on my athletic identity and what it is that I want. Right now, I want to win a medal."
Last year, when sports were paused because of the coronavirus pandemic and Tsuji's training time was limited, she took the opportunity to address the arm numbness she was experiencing, a nagging issue that was becoming more and more of a nuisance.
Tsuji, whose right arm was missing below the elbow at birth, considered her artificial arm as mostly a superficial replacement of her missing body part, albeit one that improved her balance.
But research teams from the Nippon Sport Science University, where she works, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology discovered that her below-elbow prosthetic device was causing compression of the nerves running through her arm, leading to sensory disturbances.
After replacing the standard below-elbow prosthesis with a weighted wrist band-style prosthesis strapped to her upper arm, the numbness she experienced in her arm mid-race disappeared, allowing her to better control the swing of her appendage.
She was hard on herself when she finished seventh at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships, a qualification meet in which the top four finishers in each event were guaranteed a Paralympics spot.
But the new prosthetic device offered Tsuji greater comfort and improved performance.
At the Japan Para Athletics Championships in April, she rewrote her own national record in a winning time that would have placed second at worlds. She booked herself a last-minute ticket to the Tokyo Paralympics.
This spring, Tsuji decided to stay in college as an assistant professor in order to remain committed to her athletic endeavors rather than pursuing full-time work.
She dealt with some personal drama concerning her marriage and eventual divorce during her performance slump, but believed that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
She hopes the Tokyo Paralympics will be the source of that light.
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