A Japanese court on Tuesday ordered an archer bound for the upcoming Paris Paralympics to pay damages of around 1.24 million yen ($8,600) to a fellow athlete for posting defamatory comments on her blog during qualification for the 2021 Tokyo Games.
According to the ruling handed down by the Tokyo District Court, Chika Shigesada, 41, anonymously posted comments on plaintiff Asako Onodera's blog such as "Don't struggle too much in vain," and "Aren't you breaking the rules?" in January 2021 while both were taking part in qualification for the games that year.
Shigesada was later confirmed to have been the offender, after Onodera requested disclosure of the poster's information. Only Shigesada ended up qualifying to compete in the Tokyo Paralympics.
Judge Hiroki Okubo said the comments were "completely false" and were highly malicious in that they ridiculed Onodera's performance.
"The mental anguish of being bombarded by posts on issues that she had no idea about, and to find out that they were made by a rival, is considerable," the judge said.
Shigesada intends to appeal the ruling.
Onodera, for her part, welcomed the court's judgement, saying she had been struggling for a long time.
"If you are aware of your role as a national representative, you would not write these kinds of things," the 48-year-old told a press conference in Tokyo, adding, "It is unfortunate that (Shigesada) will compete in the Paris Games."
The Paris Paralympic Games will take place between Aug. 28 and Sept. 8.
Shigesada, who uses a wheelchair after a mobility disease she began suffering in childhood gradually impaired her ability to walk, took up para archery professionally in 2015.
In the 2019 ranking of female athletes by the Japan Para Archery Federation, Onodera was ranked second after Shigesada.