Toyota partnered with 13 hero athletes from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, including an Employee Athlete from TMAP in “Start Your Impossible” (SYI), Toyota’s first ever global corporate initiative. Eleven of them will join more than 250 Global Team Toyota Athletes from around the world to achieve their sporting goals and realise their dreams.

The following elite Team Toyota athletes from Asia will be competing:

• Indonesia: Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, Badminton
• Singapore: Joseph Schooling, Swimming
• Thailand: Panipak Wongpattanakit, Taekwondo

PARALYMPIC GAMES

• India: Amit Kumar Saroha, Discus Thrower – Para Athletics
• Indonesia: Ni Nengah Widasih, Para Powerlifting
• Malaysia: Abdul Latif Romly, Long Jump – Para Athletics
• Philippines: Ernie Gawilan, Para Swimming
• Singapore: Toh Wei Soong, Para Swimming
• Singapore (Toyota Motor Asia Pacific): Sophie Soon, Para Swimming
• Thailand: Anchaya Ketkaew, Para Swimming
• Vietnam: Nguyen Thanh Trung, Para Swimming

COO of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, Mr Hao Tien said: “We are thrilled and overjoyed that top athletes from across Asia as well as from around the globe will be going to the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 under Team Toyota. We wish them all the very best as they compete safely on the world stage. Thank you for inspiring all of us with your unwavering commitment to your sport, and to “Starting Your Impossible” in your communities in Asia through your hero projects.”

Even as they strive to go higher, faster and further at the Games, many of the Team Toyota athletes from Asia are already addressing and tackling social challenges to create more inclusive, sustainable and mobile societies within each of their communities. This is in the spirit of “Start Your Impossible” and is in line with Toyota’s core belief that it is when you are free to move, then anything is possible. It is when communities are inspired to come together to overcome social, economic and physical hurdles, that there can be transformation.

This philosophy lies at the core of Toyota’s corporate mission to ensure “Mobility for All” and to support the creation of a more inclusive, sustainable and mobile society in which everyone can challenge their impossible and make their dreams come true.

TMAP is proud to have partnered with these athletes who are also Dual Heroes, as they have embarked on their own Hero Projects with local partners and organizations in their own communities. These partnerships have enabled each athlete to pursue different initiatives for social transformation. These initiatives include literary to road safety programs, providing training facilities for sports, supporting children and youth, empowering women, arts and culture, and advocating a more sustainable environment.

In the Philippines, Paralympic swimmer Ernie Gawilan has partnered with Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) to push for his advocacy of keeping the waters clean to protect and preserve the country’s marine ecosystem.

Ernie Gawilan plants mangrove propagules in the coastal areas of Lian, Batangas during the Start Your Impossible National Coastal Cleanup and Mangrove Planting Day organized by Toyota Motor Philippines.

In 2019, TMP and Gawilan led the ‘National Coastal Cleanup and Mangrove Planting Day’ project which had 1,900 volunteers collecting 1,200 sacks of trash and planting 40,000 mangrove propagules in 35 coastal areas across the Philippines.

Through this partnership with Gawilan, TMP was also able strengthen its ties with the Philippine Paralympic Committee to provide support to the organization and its athletes. Aside from the Coaster for the mobility needs of the Filipino Para-athletes during their trainings and local competitions, TMP also donated Paralympic wheelchairs for the Philippines Wheelchair Racing team.

Every Team Toyota athlete from Asia is an inspiring role model. They have not only dedicated themselves to achieving excellence in their sports, through grit and sacrifice, but have also set stellar examples in advocating for change and transformation in their communities. Many have overcome their own ‘impossible’ challenges – whether socio-economic or physical - in their journey to pursue excellence. Now they are drawing from their experiences and personal stories to inspire others to go higher, faster and further from where they are in life.