Departures of note

Hirokazu Ueyonabaru was a Japanese Paralympic wheelchair racer who competed in the T52 classification. He won the silver medal in the men's marathon at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, finishing three seconds behind the world-record-setting Austrian winner, and went on to represent Japan at four consecutive Paralympic Games from Beijing through Tokyo. At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics he earned bronze medals in both the men's 400m and 1500m T52 events, becoming the first athlete from Okinawa to win multiple medals at a single Paralympics and the first from the prefecture to medal in a track event. He also won multiple medals at world championships and Asian Para Games, including gold in the 800m T52 at the 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games, and won the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon five times. Ueyonabaru, who took up wheelchair racing after a motorcycle accident in 2000 left him with quadriplegia, also served as president of the Okinawa Para Athletics Association. He died on September 26, 2026, at age 55, from injuries sustained when a light freight vehicle struck his racing wheelchair during a training ride on a road in Uruma, Okinawa.