Perseverance Leads Mazak Employee to 2026 Paralympic Games

Nana Sato’s story is one of determination and turning adversity into strength. In 2020, she was injured while surfing and was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Nevertheless, she made every effort to accept her reality and to build a new life moving forward. With the support of her family, friends, and co-workers, she gradually began to rebuild her life and continued to pursue her love of sports. This revived passion earned her the right to compete in the 2026 Paralympic Games on March 10 as a cross-country sit-skier.

After discovering skiing through a sports program that supports athletes with disabilities, Sato participated in a trial session for para cross-country skiing, was captivated, and decided to take on the challenge for herself. In 2024, she started training in earnest under the guidance of a coach, aiming for international competitions as well as the Paralympic Games. Initially her goal was the 2030 Paralympic Games, but she was unexpectedly selected early as a team member for this year’s Games.

“Once I learned about the program and what it could offer me, I felt encouraged to give it a try,” said Sato. “During the screening process, I was introduced to cross-country sit-skiing and took part in a trial session, followed by a training camp. I was designated as a developmental skier in 2024, and since then, I trained daily under the guidance of a coach.”

On weekdays, Sato trains extensively for hours, focusing on upper-body strengthening and endurance development. Since cross-country sit-skiing requires the use of ski poles, upper-body strength is essential to success in the sport.

“My sit-skis are an original design tailored to my disability, but there's still room for improvement,” explained Sato. “Even a 1-centimeter change in the position of my footwear has a huge impact on performance, and the lighter the components, the faster I ski. Some of the parts for the sit-skis I currently use are actually machined by Mazak.

Sato works at Mazak Mate, a group company of Yamazaki Mazak Corporation that employs disabled individuals for assembling electrical components and other units for Mazak machine tools. The company provides a workplace where people with disabilities can work safely in long-term and fulfilling careers.  

Originally, Sato used parts made of stainless steel for her ski chair, but they were too heavy to maintain speed and didn't quite fit her size chair. To solve this issue, she had them resized and replaced with lightweight aluminum.

Cross-country sit-skiing tests an individual’s speed and endurance over snow-covered terrain, it is sometimes referred to as the “marathon of the snow”. Depending on the type of disability, athletes compete in three categories: standing, sitting, and visually impaired. Within each of these categories, there are further classifications based on type and degree of disability to ensure fair competition. Events range from sprints of around 1 km to middle distances of 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) and longer races of 20 km (12 miles) or more. Sato specializes in the sprint events.

With encouragement from those around her, Sato continues to look ahead rather than dwell on the past. “The support I’ve received through this journey fuels my determination each day,” she reflected. “I will keep training diligently and steadily as I continue to achieve my goals in every competition, whether in sports or in life.”