Yurie Kanuma
Japanese biathlete, cross-country skier and cyclist (born 1981)
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Yurie Kanuma (鹿沼 由理恵, Kanuma Yurie; born May 20, 1981) is a Japanese former biathlete, cross-country skier and cyclist. She represented Japan at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics. As a cyclist, she competed in para-cycling tandem road and track events.[1]
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| Nationality | Japanese | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | May 20, 1981 Machida, Tokyo, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Early life and education
Kanuma was born on May 20, 1981, and is originally from Machida, Tokyo.[1] She was born with visual impairment (low-vision).[2] She graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan Bunkyo School for the Blind.[3]
Sporting career
At the age of 25, Kanuma discovered Nordic skiing (cross-country) and began competing in earnest in 2008.[3] At the 2010 Winter Paralympics, she finished 5th in the 3 x 2.5 km relay event. She then switched to cycling.[2]
In 2016, Kanuma was selected as a representative for the 2016 Summer Paralympics, but before the start of the competition, she gradually lost feeling in her arm and developed peripheral nerve paralysis.[2] However, she was told that "if she received treatment, she would no longer be able to represent Japan," so she took painkillers and participated in the Paralympics.[4] At that Paralympics, she participated in the women's road time trial B with pilot Mai Tanaka and won a silver medal.[5] In recognition of her achievement, she was awarded the Machida City Citizen's Honor Award in the same year.[6] Her left arm was subsequently amputated in 2018.[2]
Kanuma served as a torchbearer for the 2020 Summer Olympics, running in Tokyo on July 9, 2021.[7]