Ryoko Tani

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medal record
Competitor for Japan
Women's Judo
Olympic Games
Silver	1992 Barcelona	- 48kg
Silver	1996 Atlanta	- 48kg
Gold	2000 Sydney	- 48kg
Gold	2004 Athens	- 48kg
World Championships
Bronze	1991 Barcelona	-48 kg
Gold	1993 Hamilton	-48 kg
Gold	1995 Chiba	-48 kg
Gold	1997 Paris	-48 kg
Gold	1999 Birmingham	-48 kg
Gold	2001 Munich	-48 kg
Gold	2003 Osaka	-48 kg
Gold	2007 Rio de Janeiro	-48 kg
Asian Games
Gold	1994 Hiroshima	-48 kg
Asian Championships
Bronze	1991 Osaka	-48 kg

Ryoko Tani (谷亮子, Tani Ryōko^?, born September 6, 1975) is one of the most famous female Judo competitors in Japan. Her maiden name was Ryoko Tamura (田村亮子, Tamura Ryōko^?). She was born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka. Also, she is now an employee at Toyota Motor Corporation.

She is commonly known as 'Yawara-chan' (from the title character of Yawara!, a popular judo manga). Since she won the International Women's Judo Championships in 1990, 'Yawara-chan' has gone on to win the event every year. She has a record seven world titles and she brought home the 48kg-category gold medal from Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Athens Olympics in 2004. In 2003, she married Yoshitomo Tani, an Olympian and professional baseball player then with the Orix Blue Wave. The reception reportedly cost $3 million.

Tani has been very popular in Japan. The Ryoko characters from the World Heroes and Fighter's History fighting video games series are both loosely based on her. Also, the recent birth of her child, Yoshiaki, was a major press event with camera crews waiting for the first glimpse of her emergence from the hospital.

She is considering competing in the 2008 Olympic Games, but it will depend on her results in tournaments such as the 2007 All-Japan Olympic qualifier or the Rio de Janeiro qualifier.