Kimie Bessho
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nickname | Shiny | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Hiroshima, Japan | 8 December 1947|||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 53 kg (117 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Para table tennis | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | C5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Domani Table Tennis Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kimie Bessho (born 8 December 1947) is a Japanese para table tennis player who competes in international level events. She was a bronze medallist at the 2014 Asian Para Games and has participated at the Summer Paralympics four times, she was also the oldest tennis player to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics aged 68 years old. She is often known to wear butterfly hairclips as a superstition for her tournament matches.[1][2]
When Bessho was 39, her husband passed away from a short illness and two years later, she was diagnosed with cancer and had to use a wheelchair indefinitely after two operations. Bessho began playing table tennis at the age of 45 after being fascinated by the sport and made her debut appearance at the 2004 Summer Paralympics finishing in fifth place.[3]
References
- ^ "Kimie Bessho - IPTTF Profile". International Para Table Tennis Federation. 8 August 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Table Tennis - Kimie Bessho". The Nippon Foundation Paralympic Support Centre. 8 August 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Japan's oldest athlete brings her best to the table". Asia One. 14 September 2016.
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- 1947 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Hiroshima
- People from Akashi, Hyōgo
- Paralympic table tennis players of Japan
- Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
- Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
- Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics