Biography

Mei Ichinose is a Japanese Paralympic athlete who competed as a swimmer in the 2016 Rio Paralympics and holds the Japanese record for seven events. Since age nine she has given her Paralympic dreams her all but, in October 2021, announced her retirement from swimming and has pursued acting, modeling, and public speaking. The Edge (2025), in which she plays a Japanese Paralympic swimmer, will be her acting debut.

When she was 17 Mei gave a speech at a high school public speaking contest, stating "Disability is a product of society". She shared the prejudices and discrimination that she had experienced. From there on, she worked to eliminate the difficulties of living in this society.

Mei was born with a congenital deficiency of the lower right arm and started swimming at 18 months old. In 2010 she became the youngest athlete in history to take part in the Asian Championship at 13 years old, winning the silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle (physical impairment classification S9). After retiring from elite sport, Mei continues to work to eliminate discrimination and has seen the world of film and TV as the next step in raising awareness about people with disabilities.
- IMDb mini biography by: Performance Outdoor