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WHEELCHAIR ATHLETES – MEN <strong>PROFESSIONAL</strong> ATHLETE FIELDS Josh George Country: United States Age: 32 Date of Birth: March 18, 1984 Residence: Champaign, IL Personal Best: 1:22:55, Duluth, MN, 2012 New York City Marathon History: 2015: 2nd, 1:30:55; 2014: 7th, 1:33:09; 2013: 10th, 1:46:43; 2011: 7th, 1:39:02; 2010: 13th, 1:53:29; 2008: 11th, 1:54:30; 2007: 6th, 1:38:06 Career Highlights 2015 Virgin Money London Marathon 1st 1:31:31 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon 1st 1:32:12 2014 NYC Half 1st 50:37 2013 IPC World Championships Marathon 5th 1:32:28 2013 IPC World Championships 5000m 4th 10:26.90 George won the inaugural professional wheelchair athlete race at the 2014 NYC Half, and placed second the following year. He recorded his first podium finish at the TCS New York City Marathon last November, challenging Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa down to the homestretch in Central Park only to miss out on first place by one second. The four-time Paralympian and five-time Paralympic medalist competed in five events at the Rio 2016 Games, where he recorded fifth-place finishes over 800 and 5000 meters. George has won Bank of America Chicago Marathon titles in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2014. In 2015, he took first at the Virgin Money London Marathon, an event that also served as the IPC Athletics World Championships Marathon. He competed in seven track and field events at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. He is the 2012 London Paralympics bronze medalist at 800 meters, and won gold in that event at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France. George suffered permanent paralysis when he fell from a 12th-floor window at the age of four. He weighs 98 pounds, but he can bench-press 220 pounds. In 2007, George graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism. George was profiled in the New York Times on May 15, 2008, when he had set world records at 100, 400, and 800 meters before age 25. When not training, he works as a product manager for Intelliwheels, a wheelchair component manufacturer in Champaign, IL. MEDIA GUIDE 99
<strong>PROFESSIONAL</strong> ATHLETE FIELDS WHEELCHAIR ATHLETES – MEN Kota Hokinoue Country: Japan Age: 42 Date of Birth: March 30, 1974 Residence: Fukuoka, Japan Personal Best: 1:21:14 Boston, MA, 2014 New York City Marathon: 2014: 5th, 1:30:57; 2013: 5th, 1:40:16; 2011: 3rd, 1:34:21; 2010: 6th, 1:42:44 Career Highlights 2015 Tokyo Marathon 1st 1:30:23 2014 Berlin Marathon 1st 1:32:25 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2nd 1:32:16 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships Marathon 3rd 1:32:27 2012 London Paralympic Marathon 6th 1:31:13 Hokinoue, winner of the 2015 Tokyo Marathon and 2014 Berlin Marathon, broke the Japanese marathon record in 2011 when he clocked 1:22:01 to finish second in Osensingen. He lowered it again in 2014, taking second at the Boston Marathon in 1:21:14. He is also the Japanese record-holder at 5000 and 10,000 meters, and he picked up a bronze medal at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships Marathon in Lyon, France. Nicknamed “Hokki,” he began wheelchair racing in 2002 at the suggestion of a friend, just two years after injuring his spine in a motorcycle accident. He founded his own wheelchair racing team called Team Blue Tag 2 Arm Drive. 100 #TCSNYCMARATHON
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