"Transplant No Barrier to Olympic Cyclist"

"Transplant No Barrier to Olympic Cyclist"

"Daily Yomiuri" (Japan), Aug. 11, 2008
by Tomoyuki Inoue, Yomiuri Staff Writer

BEIJING- Almost 7 years after donating part of his liver to his mother, Takashi Miyazawa was able to cycle through Beijing in the Men's Road Race on Saturday, with his mother healthy enough to travel to Beijing to watch him compete.
Miyazawa, 30, finished 86th in the race, completing the 245.4 kilometer course in about 7 hours, watched by his 60-year-old mother, Junko.
He reached the finish near the Great Wall of China more than 30 minutes after the gold medalist, just as the award ceremony was about to begin.
"I was able to put my all into this. I did everything I could to prepare, so I don't have any regrets," Miyazawa said.
Miyazawa's father died from a lung condition at the age of 41, when Miyazawa was a first-year primary school student, so his mother had to raise him on her own.
He started entering cycling races regularly after entering Nagano Technical Uigh School in Nagano. At that time, his mother was already suffering from liver problems, but she did the best she could to help her son, driving him and his bike to far-flung cycling tracks every weekend.
On graduating from high school, he went to Italy, a top cycling nation, for further training. After returning home, he joined a corporate cycling team in 2001.
Miyazawa pledged one day to take part in the Tour de France, the world's most prestigious cycling race.
However, just after joining the corporate team Miyazawa learned his mother had been told by her doctor that she would die without a liver transplant.
As a liver donor, Miyazawa would have to have his abdominal muscle cut open, and Junko's doctor told him that there was no guarantee he would be able to compete at top level after the operation.
But despite the risk, Miyazawa made up his mind to donate part of his liver and persuaded his mother, who was worried the operation could end his career, that it was the right thing to do.
The transplant was successfully carried out in September 2001, with Miyazawa dinating one-third of his liver to his mother.
Miyazawa started training again the following spring after he had completely recovered his strength. But he said he now felt completely different.
Though he joined a new corporate team to make a fresh start, he was unable to post good times and was asked to leave 2 years later.
But he never gave up. "I didn't want to make my mother sad," he said.
Using all his savings, Miyazawa started a new life in France, where he gained experience in amateur races.
In 2006 he managed to secure a contract with a professional team with whom he is still under contract.
"He seems to have become even stronger physically than he was before the operation," said the doctor who carried out the liver transplant.
Miyazawa won the Tour de Okinawa competition in both 2006 and 2007 to secure a place on the Japanese national team. "I want to keep living so I can see what else Takashi achieves," his mother Junko said.
On Saturday, Junko stood beside the Olympic cycling course, cheering as loudly as she could for her son. "Good job today," she told him after the race.
Miyazawa said he was overjoyed that his mother was able to watch him compete against the world's top cyclists.