Kōhei Uchimura facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kōhei Uchimura
Uchimura in 2011
Personal information
Nickname(s)	King Kohei Supermura Superman
Country represented	Japan
Born	(1989-01-03) January 3, 1989 (age 36) Kitakyushu, Fukuoka
Hometown	Isahaya, Nagasaki
Height	162 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	52 kg (115 lb)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2005–2007 (Jr) (JPN) 2007–2022 (Sr) (JPN)
Club	Ringer Hut
College team	Nippon Sport Science University (Nittaidai)
Head coach(es)	Hiroyuki Kato
Assistant coach(es)	Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Koji Gushiken
Former coach(es)	Naoya Tsukahara
Retired	January 10, 2022
Medal record Representing  Japan Men's artistic gymnastics Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 4 0 World Championships 10 6 5 World Cup Final 0 1 1 Summer Universiade 2 0 1 Olympic Games Gold 2012 London All-Around Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro All-Around Silver 2008 Beijing Team Silver 2008 Beijing All-Around Silver 2012 London Team Silver 2012 London Floor Exercise World Championships Gold 2009 London All-Around Gold 2010 Rotterdam All-Around Gold 2011 Tokyo All-Around Gold 2011 Tokyo Floor Exercise Gold 2013 Antwerp All-Around Gold 2013 Antwerp Parallel Bars Gold 2014 Nanning All-Around Gold 2015 Glasgow Team Gold 2015 Glasgow All-Around Gold 2015 Glasgow Horizontal bar Silver 2010 Rotterdam Team Silver 2010 Rotterdam Floor Exercise Silver 2011 Tokyo Team Silver 2014 Nanning Team Silver 2014 Nanning Horizontal Bar Silver 2018 Doha Horizontal Bar Bronze 2010 Rotterdam Parallel Bars Bronze 2011 Tokyo Horizontal Bar Bronze 2013 Antwerp Floor Exercise Bronze 2013 Antwerp Horizontal Bar Bronze 2018 Doha Team World Cup Final Silver 2008 Madrid Floor Exercise Bronze 2007 Paris Vault Summer Universiade Gold 2007 Bangkok Team Gold 2007 Bangkok Floor Exercise Bronze 2007 Bangkok Vault

Kōhei Uchimura (内村 航平, Uchimura Kōhei, born January 3, 1989) is a Japanese retired artistic gymnast. He is famous for being one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. People often call him "King Kohei" or "Superman" because of his amazing skills.

Uchimura has won many medals in his career. He has seven Olympic medals, including three golds and four silvers. He also has 21 World Championship medals, with ten golds. He was especially good at the "all-around" event, where gymnasts compete on all six pieces of equipment. He won the all-around gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and again at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He is known for his difficult routines that he performs almost perfectly.

Early Life and Start in Gymnastics

Kōhei Uchimura was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. He started gymnastics at age three. His parents, Kazuhisa and Shuko Uchimura, were both gymnasts. They even had their own sports club in Nagasaki Prefecture.

When he was 15, Kōhei moved to Tokyo. He wanted to train with Naoya Tsukahara, an Olympic gold medalist. Kōhei believes that hard work and practice are the most important things for success.

Amazing Senior Career

Becoming a World Champion

Uchimura joined Japan's national gymnastics team in 2007. He quickly started winning medals. In 2008, he went to his first Olympic Games in Beijing. There, he helped Japan win a silver medal in the team event. He also won a silver medal in the individual all-around competition. This was Japan's first Olympic medal in that event in 24 years!

In 2009, Uchimura won his first World Championship all-around title. He won by a large amount of points. He kept winning this title for many years. He won it again in 2010 and 2011. This made him the first male gymnast to win three all-around titles in a row!

Philipp Boy (left), Uchimura (center) and Jonathan Horton (right) in 2010

At the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Uchimura won the all-around final for the third time. He also won a gold medal on the floor exercise. He received the Longines Prize for Elegance that year. This award is given to gymnasts who show great grace and style in their performances.

Olympic Gold and Continued Dominance

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Uchimura had some falls in the early rounds. But he bounced back in the team final, helping Japan win a silver medal. Then, in the individual all-around final, he performed incredibly well. He won the gold medal, showing everyone why he was "King Kohei." He also won a silver medal on the floor exercise.

Kōhei Uchimura (on the right) and Rick McCharles at the All Japan Gymnastics Championships 2011

Uchimura continued his winning streak at the World Championships. He won his fourth all-around gold in 2013 in Antwerp. He also won a gold medal on the parallel bars and two bronze medals. In 2014, he won his fifth all-around world title in Nanning.

In 2015, Uchimura made history again. He won his sixth straight all-around world championship title in Glasgow. This was an amazing achievement! He also led Japan to win the team gold medal, their first since 1978.

Uchimura at the 2016 Rio Olympics

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Uchimura led the Japanese men's team to win the gold medal. This was a huge win for Japan. Two days later, he defended his individual all-around gold medal. He became the first gymnast in 44 years to win back-to-back Olympic all-around golds! He is only the second man in history to win three individual all-around medals at the Olympics.

Later Career and Retirement

In 2017, Uchimura's amazing streak of winning all-around titles ended. He injured his ankle during a competition, which forced him to stop. This was the first time in nine years that he didn't win a medal at a major competition.

He continued to compete, but with fewer events. In 2018, he helped Team Japan win a bronze medal at the World Championships. He also won a silver medal on the horizontal bar.

Uchimura competed in his fourth and home Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. He focused only on the horizontal bar event. He did not win a medal, but he was still a respected leader. His younger teammate, Daiki Hashimoto, won gold medals in the all-around and horizontal bar at these Games. Many people see Hashimoto as Uchimura's successor.

On January 10, 2022, Kōhei Uchimura announced he was retiring from gymnastics. He had been dealing with injuries for a few years. Many people believe he is the greatest male gymnast of all time.

Competitive History

Year	Competition	Team	Individual Events
			AA	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB
2007	Paris World Cup	N/A	N/A	9	N/A	N/A		N/A	N/A
	Summer Universiade		N/A		N/A	N/A		N/A	N/A
2008
	Olympic Games			N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	World Cup Final	N/A	N/A		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2009
	World Championships	N/A		4	13	12	N/A	12	6
2010
	World Championships				12	8	N/A		14
2011
	World Championships				5	6	N/A	4
2012
	Olympic Games				60	19	N/A	5	16
2013
	World Championships	N/A			10	17	N/A
2014
	World Championships			5	12		N/A	15
2015
	World Championships			64	9	21	N/A	10
2016
	Olympic Games			5	14	20	N/A	10	37
2017
	World Championships	N/A	wd2	N/A	N/A	32	N/A	30	N/A
2018
	World Championships		N/A	N/A	21	28	N/A	N/A
2019
	World Championships	Did not qualify due to injury
2020
	Olympic Games	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	wd1	20
2021
	World Championships	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	6

¹Uchimura chose not to compete in the parallel bars event to focus on the high bar. ²Uchimura got injured during the competition and had to stop.

Personal Life

Kōhei Uchimura got married to his wife, Chiho, in 2012. They have two daughters. When asked if he would teach them gymnastics, he said he probably wouldn't because he doesn't know much about women's gymnastics. He also mentioned that he only eats one meal a day and doesn't like vegetables very much.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic medalists
• List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics