Photo/Illutration Yoshikazu Matsumoto smiles after losing a match in the judo 100-kg division for the visually impaired on Aug. 29 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. (Naoko Kawamura)

Even in defeat, Japanese judoka Yoshikazu Matsumoto could not stop smiling at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug. 29.

And why not? 

Matsumoto proved he could still qualify to compete at his sport's highest level at age 59, 17 years removed from participating in the 2004 Athens Paralympics.

Although he lost his first match in Tokyo by ippon, he still smiled on the tatami at the Nippon Budokan.

“It’s been 17 years, and I lost my cool,” Matsumoto said after the loss, while waiting to compete in a consolation match.

“I’ve bet my life on the (Paralympics) for a long, long time. I was really happy that I could stand on this tatami in this competition, and I felt thankful,” Matsumoto added, explaining the emotions behind his beaming face. 

The Tokyo Paralympics marked a fitting end to his long and illustrious career in the sport. 

Matsumoto competed in the 2000 Sidney Paralympics and won a bronze medal in the men’s 100-kilogram division for the visually impaired. At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, Matsumoto did not win a medal but took a turn in the spotlight as the flag bearer of the Japanese Paralympic delegation.

He was a first-year high school student when he contracted glaucoma. The condition deprived him of the sight in his right eye immediately, and then he gradually lost the vision in his left eye.

He could not read what was written on the blackboard and in notebooks that he borrowed from classmates. He could not play volleyball in a gym class because he could not see the ball.

He was completely blind at the age of 20.

One of his relatives told him, “Don’t walk in front of my home. It’s embarrassing.”

But the young Matsumoto kept telling himself. “I’ll never be defeated. I’ll live on my own.”

He entered an Osaka prefectural school for the blind to obtain certification to be an acupuncture and massage therapist.

There, he learned about judo as a viable sport for people with visual impairments. Matsumoto found it attractive that the rules did not differ much from the sport for people without disabilities, and he could compete against them.

Eventually, Matsumoto won a championship at a domestic tournament for the visually impaired. But the victory did not give him full satisfaction.

“I’m No. 1 because I’m visually impaired," he said. "That’s how I saw things at the time. To me, everything was about my disability. I was really negative.”

There came a transformational opportunity, the Sidney Paralympics.

Matsumoto was impressed at the display of athletes in wheelchairs freely wandering up and down the accessible athletes’ village.

Matsumoto had an epiphany at the Opening Ceremony, where fellow Paralympians from around the world whooped and hollered and had fun.

“They were just having fun without thinking about their disabilities,” he said. Their mindset and attitude were in stark contrast to his own.

Matsumoto learned from them that, “It is OK to feel confident about myself,” he said. “The Games saved me.”

Four years later, Matsumoto led the Japanese delegation as a national flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Athens Paralympics.

After the shining moment, however, he continued failing to be selected for the national team due to injuries and the increasingly skillful competition in the sport.

But Matsumoto had never given up hope of competing in another Paralympics because he wanted his two children, both born after the Athens Games, to see their father competing at the top level.

His resilience paid off with his third Paralympic ticket.

In the consolation match on Aug. 29, Matsumoto again lost by ippon. As he left the tatami, Matsumoto bowed for a longer moment than usual.

Surrounded by reporters, Matsumoto could no longer hold back his tears.

“I have risen from falls over and over to take on a challenge for fulfilling my dream,” he said. “It would be great if my children learned something from (me).” 

The tears stopped, replaced by a fatherly sheepish smile.

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