Japanese long-distance runners Kenya Karasawa and Shinya Wada won silver and bronze, respectively, in the men's Paralympic T11 5,000-meter event for visually impaired athletes held at National Stadium on Friday.
In his Paralympics debut, Karasawa, who lost his vision completely when he was 10, surged forward with a lap to go and scorched past most of the field, but Brazilian Yeltsin Jacques kicked ahead on the final bend to cross the line first in 15 minutes, 13.62 seconds.
The 27-year-old Karasawa came home in 15:18.12 and three-time Paralympian Wada, 44, clocked 15:21.03, adding another bronze to the one he won in the same event at the 2012 London Games.
Jacques won the first athletics gold on offer at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Visually impared runners and their sighted guides are connected by a tether tied around the wrists or held between the fingers. For races that are 5,000 meters or longer, runners are permitted to have two guides who can sub out partway through the race.