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Authenticated Text and Video |
"I am Mami Sato and I'm
here because I was saved by sport. It taught me the values that matter in life,
the values that Tokyo 2020 is determined to promote worldwide."
"I was nineteen when my
life changed. I was a runner. I was a swimmer. I was even a cheerleader. Then,
just weeks after I first felt pains in my ankle, I lost my leg to cancer. I was
in despair -- until I returned to university and took up athletics. I found that
I enjoyed setting a goal and beating it. I developed new confidence. Most of
all, I learnt that what was important was what I had, not what I had lost."
"What we have seen is the
impact of the Olympic values as never before in Japan. And what the country has
witnessed is that those precious values, excellence, friendship, and respect,
can be so much more than just words."
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