Seven years ago, she fought for her life in the hospital. Currently, she has been dominating track paracycling for two years. Now, at the age of 52, she is reaching for the world champion title at the world championships in cycling and paracycling held in Glasgow.
Keiko Sugiura’s story is a ready-made script for a movie. Seven years ago, she didn’t have much in common with professional cycling. She worked in a pharmacy, and in her spare time she practiced triathlon as an amateur. Her life changed when she suffered an accident during a triathlon competition. While cycling, at a speed of about 60 km/h, she collided with another participant in the event and fell off the road. With numerous fractures, a concussion and extensive hemorrhage, she ended up in the hospital, where the doctors started the fight for her life. It turned out that the damage to her brain was so severe that she had to learn to read all over again, and her partially paralyzed body would never fully recover. Today she races professionally on the paracycling track and has just become a world champion!
Keiko Sugiura reached her first titles in 2017. She then won her first world title in the mass-start race and bronze in the time trial. Later, she won four more silver medals at the world championships, and two years ago she dominated the competition at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, reaching for gold in both the road race and the time trial. Now, she is adding her first track world title to the collection. Sugiura defeated the Dutch Aniek van den Aarssen in the final of the 3000 meters pursuit race.
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