Japan's Paralympic sprinter poses nude for funds

Japan's disabled sprinter Maya Nakanishi, who is planning to compete in the 2012 London Paralympic Games, published a calendar featuring her posing semi-nude with her prosthetic leg to help fund her training and trip to London Paralympic Games.

Nakanishi lost her right leg below the knee in a workplace accident when she was 21, then became a sprinter with her prosthetic limb. She is the Asian record holder in the T44 (one leg amputated below the knee) 200 meters and long jump.

She was also the first Japanese woman to be at the start line in a 100 meter final race in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Olympics.

But with little financial assistance, she made up her mind to pose herself partially nude in her calendar to fund her trip to compete in London. The calendar of 7,000 copies is priced at 1,200 yen ($15) in Japan.