Supporting the Activities of Para Specialists
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The S-Pool Group supports para specialists in their ongoing efforts to refine their skills and take on new challenges.
S-Pool Group supports para specialists with disabilities who draw on their uniqueness and career experiences to play active roles in their own fields. Our team currently includes one athlete with a disability who, balancing athletic competition and work, pursues challenges to realize his dream, as well as the other artists with disabilities who seek to realize new possibilities through artistic endeavors. Our support for these and other diverse individuals reflects a commitment to establishing a society in which all can live their own lives, based on an understanding of the need to foster a culture that supports everyone, to propagate motivation for self-growth, and to accord respect for diversity.
Artists with disabilities
In 2021, S-Pool founded COLORS as an organization which is dedicated to advancing creative activities by artists with disabilities. We have a studio in Nezu to support our activities.
Ryo YonezawaTrack and field para athlete: 800-meter/1500-meter run
Giving my all
There was no 800-meter run—my specialty—in the Paralympics, so I am training for the 400-meter run and the 1500-meter run. My goal is to strengthen myself both physically and mentally while training daily and balancing work and competition.
Profile
Ryo Yonezawa was born in 1997 in the city of Sakura, Chiba Prefecture.
Diagnosed with an intellectual disability at the age of three, he joined the track and field team in middle school. After graduating, he attended a part-time high school. After a nonprofit organization where he worked during the day recognized his talents in track and field, he began full-fledged training with a coach. Capturing third place in the 800-meter run at the 2014 Chiba Prefecture Para Sports Tournament, he won numerous tournaments and even competed in the 2017 INAS Athletics Championships in Bangkok.
He joined S-Pool as its first athlete employee in April 2018, when he began balancing work at S-Pool Plus with his competitive activities. Even while taking on the challenges of this new environment, he won first place in the Kanto Para Athletics tournament in June of that year, setting a new Asian record. Now employed by S-Pool, he continues his training with the goal of competing in the world championships.
Main results
| 2023 | Second place, 1500-meter run, 34th Japan Para Athletics Championships |
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| Second place, 800-meter run, 4th place, 1500-meter run, Japan Para Championships | |
| Gold medal, 800-meter run (New tournament record), Gold medal, 1500-meter run (New tournament record), 23th Japanese Para-Sports Association tournament | |
| Third place, 800-meter run, 4th place, 1500-meter, 28th Japan Intellectual Disability Athletics Federations track and field tournament | |
| 2022 | First place, 800-meter run, 26th Japan Intellectual Disability Athletics Federations track and field tournament |
| First place, 800-meter run, third place, 1500-meter run, Japan Para Championships | |
| First place, 800-meter run, second place, 1500-meter run, 27th Japan Intellectual Disability Athletics Federations track and field tournament | |
| Third place, 1500-meter run, 33rd Japan Para Athletics Championships | |
| Gold medal, 800-meter run, gold medal,1500-meter run, 22nd Japanese Para-Sports Association tournament | |
| 2021 | First place, 800-meter run, Japan Para Championships |
| 2019 | Fifth place, 800-meter run, INAS Global Games (Brisbane, Australia) |
| First place, 800-meter run, Japan Para Championships | |
| First place, 800-meter run, 24th Kanto Para Athletics Championships | |
| First place, 800-meter run, Japan Intellectual Disability Athletics Federations track and field tournament | |
| 2018 | Standard bearer for Chiba team, gold medal, 800-meter run, bronze medal, 400-meter run, 18th Japanese Para-Sports Association tournament |
| First place, 800-meter run, Japan Intellectual Disability Athletics Federations track and field tournament | |
| First place, 800-meter run, Japan Para Championships | |
| First place, 800-meter run (new Asian record), third place, 400-meter run, 23rd Kanto Para Athletics Championships | |
| First place, 400-meter run, Beijing Grand Prix (Beijing) | |
| 2017 | Gold medal, 800-meter run, bronze medal, 1,500-meter run, 17th Japanese Para-Sports Association tournament |
| 2016 | Gold medal, 800-meter run, gold medal, 1,500-meter run, 16th Japanese Para-Sports Association tournament |
| First place, 800-meter run, Japan Para Championships | |
| 2015 | Gold medal, 800-meter run, gold medal, 1,500-meter run, 15th Japanese Para-Sports Association tournament |
Awards
Special Award for Outstanding Sportsperson, Chiba Prefecture Para Sports Association
Special Outstanding Athlete Award, Chiba Prefecture Para Sports Association
Outstanding Athlete Award, Sakura City Amateur Sports Association
Athlete awards, Sakura City
Other
Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relay Chiba Torchbearers
Aoi KawashitaTrack and field para athlete: 800-meter run/1500-meter run
Doing my best to compete in the Paralympics
Currently, my time is still slow, but I will work hard at training while working and aim to compete in the 1500-meter run in the Paralympics. I would also like to challenge the 3000-meter run and the 500-meter run.
Profile
Aoi Kawashita was born in 2002 in the city of Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture.
Diagnosed with an intellectual disability at the early grades of elementary school.
From 4th grade to junior high school, she attended both regular and special-needs classes, and went on to high school at a special-needs school.
She ran the local family marathon with her family when she was in kindergarten, and joined the track and field club in junior high school, focusing on the 800-meter run and 1500-meter ran. In high school, she knew about the Chiba Prefecture Para Sports Tournament and decided to work hard as a para-athlete.
She joined S-Pool after seeing athletes who were active in both work and competition.
Main results
| 2023 | Second place, 1500-meter run, 34th Japan Para Athletics Championships |
|---|---|
| Second place, 5000meter run, 6th place, 1500-meter run, Japan Para Championships | |
| First place, 5000-meter run, second place, 1500-meter run, Hokkaido and Tohoku Para Athletics Championships | |
| 6th place, 1500-meter run, 28th Japan Intellectual Disability Athletics | |
| 2022 | Third place, 800-meter run, fourth place, 1500-meter run, Japan Para Championships |
| fourth place, 800-meter run, sixth place, 1500-meter run, Japan Intellectual Disability Athletics | |
| Fifth place, 1500-meter run, Japan Para Athletics Championships | |
| First place, 1500-meter run, Third place, 5000-meter run, Hokkaido and Tohoku Para Athletics Championships |
Tsutomu IwataWheelchair Curling
My goal is to compete in the Paralympics.
In order to compete in the Paralympics, I first need to get through the World Championships B competition and get points in the higher-level competitions. In 2022, I was unfortunately one step short of making it through the B competition, so I will work hard every day so that I can make it through next time.
Profile
Tsutomu Iwata was born in 1974 in the city of Kitami, Hokkaido.
At the age of 33, he suffered a spinal cord injury in a fall at work, from which he became confined to a wheelchair.
After that, he was unable to find a job and spent many days just staying at home, but the captain of his current team and his family knew each other, and he started the competing with the feeling that it was “better than just staying at home...”.
In 2011, he joined S-Pool because “I wanted to work for anything. Currently, he is working and practicing curling at the S-Pool Link, where he has good support and relationships with his boss, senior staff, and others around him, and where there are considerations such as barrier-free access to the office.
Main results
| 2022 | First place, Japan Championships, fourth place, World Championships B |
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| 2021 | First place, Hokkaido Championships, fourth place, Japan Championships |
| 2019 | First place, Hokkaido Championships, first place,Japan Championships, eliminated in qualifying, World Championships B |
| 2018 | First place, Hokkaido Championship Tournament, second place, Japan Championship Tournament |