| Kōhei Uchimura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country represented | Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | January 3, 1989 Nagasaki |
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| Height | 1.61m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 55kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | KONAMI | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Hiroyuki Kato | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant coach(es) | Yoghiaki Hatakeda, Koji Gushiken | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach(es) | Naoya Tsukahara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Kōhei Uchimura (Japanese: 内村航平; born January 3, 1989 in Nagasaki) is a Japanese artistic gymnast.[1] He is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (all around and team) and a nine-time World medalist (all around, team, floor, high bar, and parallel bars). He is famous for winning three consecutive world all around titles (2009, 2010 and 2011) and for delivering difficult and accurately executed routines. His gymnastics skills were praised by the International Gymnast Magazine as a "combination of tremendous difficulty, supreme consistency and extraordinary elegance of performance".[2]
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He began gymnastics at age 3, at home in Nagasaki Prefecture at his parents' sports club. He trained with Athens gold medalist Naoya Tsukahara.[3] At the age of 15 he moved to Tokyo to train for gymnastics.[2] His sister Haruhi Uchimura is also a gymnast and is ranked 14th in Japan. His first international competition was the 2005 International Junior Competition in Japan,[4] where he competed outside the official competition.[5]
Uchimura joined Japan's National Team in 2007[4]. He made his senior debut at the 2007 Paris World Cup in March, a major international event. Here he won bronze on vault and placed ninth on floor.[6] At Japan's national championships in October, he placed 7th in the all around.[7] A month later, at the international "Good Luck Beijing" event, he won silver with the Japanese team and placed 7th on floor exercise. [8]
Uchimura started the 2008 season by winning gold on floor at the World Cup in Tianjing in May.[9]
Later that summer, he was selected to represent Japan at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as a member of the national team. At the Olympics, he contributed to the team silver by competing on floor, vault, parallel bars, and high bar. [10] He qualified for the all-around final, where he won the silver medal despite two falls on pommel horse. His 2nd place win behind China's Yang Wei gave Japan its first Olympic medal in the event in 24 years.[11] He obtained the highest mark of that meet on the floor 15.825 (double Arabian piked half out, triple twist dismount) and had a spectacular high bar routine (Kolman, layout Kovacs).[12] He also qualified through to the floor final, where he placed fifth. [10]
At the Japanese national championships that year, 19-year-old Uchimura racked up the highest scores on floor exercise and pommel horse en route to winning his first national all around title. He was the first teenager in 12 years to win the Japanese men's national title.[13]
In October 2009 Uchimura competed at the 2009 World Championships. Here, he dominated both the qualifications and the all around final. He won the all around title by a margin of 2.575 points ahead of Daniel Keatings, marking top scores for floor, rings, vault, and horizontal bar.[14][15] Uchimura also placed fourth on floor and sixth on high bar.[14] He appeared on the cover of the December 2009 number of the International Gymnastics Magazine which was entitled "Uchimura rules".[15]
In October 2010 Uchimura headed to the 2010 World Championships again as a member of the Japanese national team. As in the previous year, he dominated the qualifications and the all around final, winning his second consecutive all around title by a margin of 2.251 points ahead of Philipp Boy. During the all around final he had the highest score of the day on floor and the highest execution mark (9.666) for a Yurchenko 21⁄2 twists on vault.[2] He also contributed to Japan's team silver medal by competing the team final on all events except still rings. He qualified for two event finals, winning silver on floor and bronze on parallel bars.[16]
On October 14, 2011 Uchimura won the all-around final for the 3rd time at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. With a score of 93.631 points, Uchimura won by a margin of 3.101 points, roughly the same margin that separated 2nd and 14th place. Not only is he the first male gymnast to win three all-around titles, but he is also the first gymnast - male or female - to win three consecutive all-around titles. During the all around final, Uchimura recorded the highest score on four of the six events - floor exercise, still rings, parallel bars, and pommel horse (he tied for the highest score on pommel horse). Uchimura also qualified for five of the six individual apparatus finals (all except vault). He won his first world championship event gold medal on floor exercise as well as a bronze medal on high bar and the silver medal with the Japanese team. [17]
At the 2011 Worlds, Uchimura also won the Longines Prize for Elegance along with Romania's Ana Porgras. The prize is given at each world championships to the male and female gymnasts who demonstrate "the most remarkable elegance". Unanimously declared the winners by a panel of judges, Uchimura and Porgras were each awarded a trophy, Longines watch, and $5000USD. [18] Uchimura was especially pleased to win this award, since he collects watches. [19]
In November 2011, Uchimura won 4 gold medals at the 65th Japanese Championships. Besides the all-around title, he also picked up titles on half of the apparatuses: floor exercise, pommel horse, and high bar. [20]
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