Anju Furuya of Okegawa, Japan Won Silver Medal in Women's 800m embly

The World Para Athletics Championships ongoing in London highlighted on its last day, July 23, Japan's woman runner Anju Furuya, 22, from Okegawa, Saitama clocking 2 minutes 21.37 seconds to renew her Asian record and a silver medal in the final of women's 800m in the intellectual disability category of 8 finalists including Moeko Yamamoto, 19. Hungary's Biacsi Bernadett placed first to grab the gold medal.

Anju Furuya had led the race right from the start until the Hungarian contender overtook her in the last stretch. 

Furuya commented:

"Happy I finished with a rather fine record - I'm glad I did well in the last stretch. Too bad I couldn't make it a gold but, that I'll save for the next international contest."

Anju Furuya hails from Okegawa, Saitama. She started running seriously after high school. She runs also in women's 400m in the same category. 

Furuya had won both the All-Japan Athletic Conference, Japan ParaAthletics Championships and other local athletic meets. In the international scene, Anju had marked the Asian record, 2 minutes 25.7 seconds in women's 800m (intellectual disability) in the world championships in Thailand last May.

She had trained six times a week prior to the London contest, running long distances at a prescribed pace each time.

A few extra lines on Anju Furuya's background might be due here. A student at an institution for the handicapped, Anju won one year a marathon race, which led her to the world of athletics. She won a silver medal at the 2016 Asia-Oceania athletics Championships and thereafter has marked new records at various athletic meets nationwide. 

Privately, I'm proud and honored to share with Anju Furuya the same home town - Okegawa. (Nathan Shiga)

Sourcce: NHK