Team Toyota athletes get green light for 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics

MANILA: Toyota Motor Asia Pacific (TMAP) has announced that Team Toyota athletes from Asia will be participating in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 that will happen from July 23 to August 8, 2021 and in the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 that will happen from August 24 to September 5, 2021.

TMAP teamed up with 13 athletes from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, including an employee athlete in “Start your Impossible” (SYI), the brand’s first ever global corporate initiative. Eleven of them will join over 250 Global Team Toyota athletes from all over the world to achieve their sporting goals.

For the Olympic Games, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon from Indonesia will represent Team Toyota for Badminton. Joseph Schooling from Singapore will be the team’s representative for swimming, while Panipak Wongpattanakit from Thailand will compete in taekwondo.

For the Paralympic Games, Amit Kumar Saroha from India will represent Team Toyota for discus thrower-para athletics. Ni Nengan Widasih from Indonesia will be the team’s representative for para powerlifting, while Abdul Latif Romly from Malaysia will compete in long jump-para athletics. Ernie Gawilan from the Philippines, Anchaya Ketkaew from Thailand, Nguyen Thanh Trung from Vietnam, together with Toh Wei Soong and Sophie Soon from Singapore, will represent the team for para swimming.

In a statement, TMAP Chief Operating Officer Hao Tien said, “We are thrilled and overjoyed that top athletes from across Asia as well as from around the globe will be going to the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 under Team Toyota. We wish them all the very best as they compete safely on the world stage. Thank you for inspiring all of us with your unwavering commitment to your sport and to ‘starting your impossible’ in your communities in Asia through your hero projects.”

Many of the Team Toyota athletes from Asia are addressing social issues to develop more inclusive and sustainable societies in their communities. This is in the spirit of “Start your Impossible” and in relation with Toyota’s core belief that “it is when you are free to move, then anything is possible.”

“This philosophy lies at the core of Toyota’s corporate mission to ensure ‘Mobility for All’ and to support the creation of a more inclusive, sustainable, and mobile society in which everyone can challenge their impossible and make their dreams come true,” TMAP said in a statement.

These athletes were named by TMAP as “Dual Heroes” as they have launched their own Hero Projects with local partners and organizations in their communities. Through these partnerships, each athlete was able to pursue various initiatives for social development such as literary to road safety programs, providing sports training facilities and equipment, supporting children and youth, empowering women, arts, and culture, and promoting ways to create a more sustainable environment.

In the Philippines, Paralympic swimmer Ernie Gawilan has teamed up with Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) to promote his advocacy of keeping the waters clean to preserve the country’s marine ecosystem.

TMP and Gawilan spearheaded the “National Coastal Cleanup and Mangrove Planting Day” project in 2019. Some 1,900 volunteers participated in the program wherein they collected 1,200 sacks of trash and planted 40,000 mangrove propagules in 35 coastal areas across the country.

Its partnership with Gawilan also helped TMP fortify its ties with the Philippine Paralympic Committee. TMP donated a Coaster to the organization to serve as the shuttle service of the Filipino Para-athletes during their trainings and local competitions. They have also provided Paralympic wheelchairs for the Philippines Wheelchair Racing team.

“Every Team Toyota athlete from Asia is an inspiring role model,” TMAP added. “They have not only dedicated themselves to achieving excellence in their sports, through grit and sacrifice, but have also set stellar examples in advocating for change and transformation in their communities. Many have overcome their own ‘impossible’ challenges — whether socio-economic or physical — in their journey to pursue excellence. Now they are drawing from their experiences and personal stories to inspire others to go higher, faster, and further from where they are in life.”

Photos from Toyota Philippines

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