Wheelchair tennis player Tokito Oda, born in Japan in 2006, was “named after the Arc de Triomphe, the iconic monument in the heart of the city” of Paris.
In Japanese, the French monument is called gaisenmon:
The first kanji in the word means “triumph, victory.” It can be pronounced several different ways, including gai, kai, and toki.
Tokito’s name features the same character, plus the kanji to, meaning “person.”
Tokito Oda began using a wheelchair while battling bone cancer as a child. He was inspired to take up wheelchair tennis at the age of 10, after seeing footage of Japanese player Shingo Kunieda at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
He went on to win four wheelchair tennis Grand Slam titles — two at the French Open — and make his own Paralympic debut last year, in Paris. (“This is a special place for me, and there’s no guarantee that there [will] be another Paralympics in Paris while I’m alive.”) When he triumphed over Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett in the final, he became the youngest-ever Paralympic gold medalist in men’s wheelchair tennis.
Sources:
- Shimizu, Ayano. “Paris 2024: Wheelchair tennis ace Oda: ‘Paris is a special place for me’.” International Paralympic Committee 2 Sept. 2024.
- “Celebrating Tokito Oda and the Triumphant Succession of Hope.” Japan Forward 23 Jul. 2023.
- Matsumoto, Shinpei, and Akito Oba. “Japan Wheelchair Tennis Player Tokito Oda Achieves Dream to Inspire Kids, Like His Own Idol Shingo Kunieda With Paralympics Gold.” Japan News 9 Sept. 2024.
- Wiktionary
Image: Adapted from Tokito Oda (2023 French Open) by Hameltion under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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