Maki Yamada secured Japan's first gold medal at the Tokyo Deaflympics on Wednesday in the men's athletics 400 meters."My efforts have paid off," the 28-year-old said after the race at Komazawa Olympic Park's Athletic Field. "I ran like I never have before...I also got a new personal best (at 47.61 seconds)."Yamada held the lead for the majority of the race, but said seeing the red uniform of Poland's Oskar Golebiowski approach him toward the end spurred him to put "150 percent of my power into those last 50 to 60 meters."Yamada last medaled at the 2017 games in Samsun, Turkey, attaining gol…READ FULL ARTICLE
