The annual Australia Day event, the Oz Day 10K wheelchair road race, was held again this year at The Rocks in Sydney.
The inaugural race started in 1990 with the philosophy to create an event where children with disabilities could see the elite wheelchair athletes in action.
The race has also attracted many foreign athletes, particularly from Japan.
This year, Tokyo Paralympic track and field athletes Tomoki Ikoma, and Momoka Muraoka, competed in the open category. Ms Muraoka is also a Winter Paralympian who competes in alpine skiing.
While Hitoshi Matsunaga, who has competed at the Beijing, London, and Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, and Jun Hiromichi, silver medallist at the Sydney Paralympics, competed in the Masters category.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first time in four years that Japanese athletes have participated in the event.
Credit: Yumi Oba
14-year-old cheerleader Lei Ametani says she missed cheering on the Japanese athletes due to the pandemic, and it was great to see the high-intensity race up and close.
Credit: Alexander Ruspandy
"The cheering gave me strength," he told SBS Japanese.
Mr Hiromichi has participated in the event multiple times in the past, but this is the first time to go home with the trophy.
Oz Day 10K Masters winner, Jun Hiromichi Credit: Yumi Oba
Hitoshi Matsunaga took home 2nd place in the Masters, while Tomoki Ikoma and Momoka Muraoka took 3rd place in the Men's and Women's Open, respectively.
Tomoki Ikoma, 3rd in Men’s Open Credit: Yumi Oba
Momoka Muraoka, 3rd in Women's Open Credit: Yumi Oba
Jun Hiromichi (right) 1st and Hitoshi Matsunaga (middle) 2nd in Masters Credit: Yumi Oba
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