Congratulatory Phone Call to Paralympic Swimmers Mr. SUZUKI Takayuki and Mr. KIMURA Keiichi

On September 2, 2024, Prime Minister Kishida made a congratulatory phone call to Mr. SUZUKI Takayuki and Mr. KIMURA Keiichi, Paralympic swimmers who both won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

In the congratulatory phone call, Prime Minister Kishida stated:

“Congratulations, Mr. Suzuki and Mr. Kimura! I am KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan.”

“Mr. Suzuki, you became the first Japanese athlete to win a gold medal. I watched your race on TV. You were amazing in the race by sprinting from the start as per your strategy. I believe that your effort gave much momentum to Team Japan, and I heard that we have now won 13 medals. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you for leading the way and achieving such excellent results.”

“Mr. Kimura, I watched your race too. It was such a close race that I was holding my breath until the end. It was amazing that you gave it the final push to win at the end of the race. You were impressive. Congratulations to you.”

“I am sure that you two had to compete under tremendous pressure with the world's attention on you, but you did so brilliantly to stand at the pinnacle of the competition, and I would like to congratulate you from the bottom of my heart. I would like to express my sincere gratitude on behalf of many Japanese people who were moved by your wonderful performance. Thank you very much.”