Vinnytsia veteran shatters personal record with prosthetic in Tokyo marathon

Roman Kashpur, a veteran from Vinnytsia who lost a limb in the war, ran the Tokyo Marathon with a personal record.

He announced this on his Facebook page.

"Tokyo Marathon 2024 – mission accomplished. This is the third marathon from the TOP-6. This is the same vector that was supposed to show whether we did everything right. The result is one hour better than all previous marathons – 4 hours and 50 minutes. This indicates that we did everything right," Kashpur said in a video posted after the race.

The veteran noted that he is delighted with this result. However, he said it will be necessary to work even better to surpass the current achievement in the future.

He thanked his family and friends for their support and his comrades who once saved his life.

In addition, he addressed the wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

"Wounded boys and girls, look for yourselves, do the searching, get out of bed. This country needs us, and we need this country. Our fight is not over… We will surely win on all fronts, build what our people died for, and continue to die for brothers and sisters. Glory to Ukraine!" said the Vinnytsia sportsman.

 

According to reports in 2016, Roman Kashpur volunteered to fight at 19. In 2019, while near Mariinka, he was injured by a mine explosion and lost a limb. This led him to pursue sports as a way to cope. Less than a year after his amputation, he won the "Games of Heroes." In December 2021, he made history for Ukraine by successfully pulling a 16-ton An–26 aircraft a distance of 6.4 m in just 44 seconds.

After full-scale aggression, he again went to defend the country; half a year later, he returned home to the city of Khmilnyk and took up volunteering and sports.

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The Tokyo Marathon is one of the most prestigious marathons in the world – the World Marathon Majors series. This year, the Ukrainian team is supported by the "Citizen" Charitable Foundation, which has taken over all issues related to the organization of the trip.

According to the "Citizen" charity fund, two Ukrainian veterans were preparing to overcome the 42-kilometer marathon in Tokyo:

• Roman Kashpur,
• Yuriy Kozlovskyi.

During the preparation and running of the race, the athletes supported the collection of funds for prosthetics and rehabilitation of severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

On October 29, Roman Kashpur, a veteran from Vinnytsia, ran the US Marine Corps Marathon on a prosthesis. The next goal is the New York marathon.

It was previously reported that veteran Roman Kashpur will participate in the New York and US Marine Corps Marathon. He intends to run the 42-kilometer distance on the prosthesis twice in a week.

In addition, it was reported that a team of eight Ukrainian defenders pulled four trucks weighing 35 tons with a rope while sitting. Their result is 20 meters in 30.69 seconds. No one had undertaken such a task before. This is despite the Ukrainian military taking part in such competitions for the first time.