Both Simon Sharapo and Stefan Franzén have qualified for the 100m semifinals at the Deaflympics in Tokyo. Sharapo won his heat on Monday, while Franzén came second in his. The semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday.
The 2025 Deaflympics kicked off on Saturday in Tokyo with a festive opening ceremony. 78 countries are participating, and Sweden has a delegation of 37 people, including 17 athletes in seven sports. On Monday, Swedish runners competed in athletics events.
Simon Sharapo took first place in his 100m heat with a time of 10.92 seconds. Stefan Franzén came second in his heat with 11.37 seconds. Both advance to the semifinals on Tuesday.
In the 10,000m, Otto Kingstedt finished fourth with a time of 30:38.09. Medal hopes were high, but it wasn't enough. Gold went to Ian Wambui of Kenya in 29:19.56, silver to David Kipkogei Kiptum of Kenya in 29:27.63, and bronze to Kuantian Xu of China in 30:04.83.
The Deaflympics is an international competition for deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes. The Swedish team marched in at the opening, and organizers are handling high demand with ticket lotteries for the ceremony.