Kenzō Shirai facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kenzō Shirai
Nickname(s)	Mr Twister Twist Prince (Japanese)
Country represented	Japan
Born	(1996-08-24) August 24, 1996 (age 28) Yokohama, Kanagawa
Hometown	Yokohama, Kanagawa
Residence	South Tokyo, Japan
Height	162 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	51 kg (112 lb)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2013–2021 (JPN)
Club	Tsurumi Gymnastics Club
College team	Nippon Sport Science University (Nittaidai)
Head coach(es)	Yoshiaki Hatakeda (club) Hisashi Mizutori (national)
Former coach(es)	Masaki Shirai (father) Norimi Shirai (mother)
Eponymous skills	Shirai/Shirai-Nguyen (FX): bwd (straight) quad (4/1) full Shirai 2 (FX): fwd/front triple (3/1)-twisting layout (fwds) Shirai 3 (FX): triple-twisting double (2/1) straight bwds Shirai/Shirai-Kim (VT): a "TTY"/Yurchenko triple twist Shirai 2 (VT): Yurchenko (straight back) 3½ twist/3.5Y Shirai 3 (VT): "full (1/1) on– (back layout) double full off"
Retired	June 16, 2021
Medal record Representing  Japan Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 1 World Championships 5 3 3 Total 6 3 4 Olympic Games Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team Bronze 2016 Rio de Janeiro Vault World Championships Gold 2013 Antwerp Floor Exercise Gold 2015 Glasgow Team Gold 2015 Glasgow Floor Exercise Gold 2017 Montreal Floor Exercise Gold 2017 Montreal Vault Silver 2014 Nanning Team Silver 2014 Nanning Floor Exercise Silver 2018 Doha Floor Exercise Bronze 2017 Montreal All-Around Bronze 2018 Doha Team Bronze 2018 Doha Vault

Kenzō Shirai (白井 健三, Shirai Kenzō, born August 24, 1996) is a famous Japanese gymnast. He was a top athlete in artistic gymnastics for men. Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Shirai went to Kishine High School and later joined Nippon Sport Science University. He won a team gold medal and a bronze medal on vault with the Japanese men's team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He also won many important medals at the World Championships.

Early Life and Training

Kenzō Shirai started gymnastics when he was very young. His parents, Masaki and Norimi, were his first coaches. They also owned a gymnastics club. Kenzō often said he was a "gym rat" because he spent so much time there. Instead of going to daycare, his parents took him to their gym.

He trained for about six hours a day, five to seven days a week. Even with all this training, Kenzō went to a regular school. This was unusual for a top athlete. After high school, in 2015, he joined Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo. Many other Japanese gymnasts, including his mentor Kōhei Uchimura, also trained there.

Gymnastics Career Highlights

Kenzō Shirai had six special moves named after him. Three are for the floor exercise (FX) and three for vault (VT). These moves were named after him because he was the first to successfully perform them in big international competitions. He was a key member of the Japanese team from 2013 to 2018. His career was later affected by injuries. Shirai retired from gymnastics on June 16, 2021, after he did not qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Winning Gold at 17 (2013)

In 2013, Kenzō Shirai was just 17 years old. He was the youngest male gymnast at the World Championships in Antwerp. He performed amazingly on the floor exercise. He scored very high and won the gold medal. This made him the youngest ever men's World Champion on floor. His routine included 22¼ twists, which was very difficult. An expert said, "there is no way Shirai doesn't win this" before his final routine.

At this event, three of his special moves were officially recognized. These were the Shirai (or Shirai-Kim) on vault, the Shirai (or Shirai-Nguyen) on floor, and the Shirai 2 on floor.

Team Silver and Close Calls (2014)

In 2014, Shirai helped Japan win a team silver medal at the World Championships in Nanning. They were very close to winning gold, just 0.1 points behind China. In the individual floor final, he had a very difficult routine. However, he stepped out of bounds, which cost him a penalty. He ended up winning silver, missing gold by a tiny amount. On vault, he placed fourth.

Team Gold and More Floor Wins (2015)

At the World Championships in Glasgow, Shirai helped the Japanese team win the team all-around gold. This was the first time Japan had won this title since 1978. Shirai also had the highest score on floor exercise in the entire competition. He won another individual gold medal on floor. His routine was very difficult and included many twists and turns.

Later that year, he added a fourth named skill for men's gymnastics: the Shirai 3 on floor. This move was a "triple-double" layout, which was very hard to do.

Olympic Glory (2016)

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Kenzō Shirai was just 19 years old. He became the youngest Japanese male gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal. The Japanese men's team won the team all-around title. Shirai's scores on vault and floor were the highest for those events in the entire competition.

In the vault finals, he performed a new, difficult skill. This skill was named the Shirai 2 on vault. He won a bronze medal on vault, tying with another gymnast but winning the tie-break. In the floor finals, he was expected to win gold. However, he had some landing issues and finished fourth.

More World Titles (2017)

In 2017, Shirai continued his success. At the Melbourne World Cup, he won gold medals on floor, vault, and high bar. He also officially had his sixth skill named after him: the Shirai 3 on vault. This made him the gymnast with the most named skills in men's artistic gymnastics.

At the World Championships in Montreal, Shirai won three medals. He earned a bronze medal in the individual all-around competition. He then defended his gold medal on floor exercise, winning by a large margin. He also won the gold medal on vault by a very small difference.

Challenges and Injuries (2018-2019)

In 2018, Shirai faced some challenges. He competed at the American Cup but placed sixth due to mistakes on high bar and pommel horse. However, he quickly recovered and won the Tokyo World Cup a month later. He also won silver medals at the All-Japan Championships and NHK Trophy, and gold on floor at the All-Japan Event Championships.

At the World Championships in Doha, the Japanese team won bronze. Shirai was not at his best form due to injuries. He simplified some of his routines, which lowered his scores. Despite this, he still won a silver medal on floor and a bronze medal on vault.

In 2019, Shirai's left ankle injury became more serious. He had to withdraw from some competitions and simplify his routines. For the first time since his debut in 2013, he did not make the Japanese national team for the World Championships. This meant he couldn't defend his past medals. He worked hard to recover, but the injury kept affecting his performance.

Retirement (2020-2021)

In late 2020, Shirai competed at the All-Japan Championships. He didn't perform as well as in previous years, placing 18th in the all-around. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to be delayed. Shirai thought about retiring because of his ongoing injuries.

He tried to make it to the delayed Olympics in 2021, but he didn't qualify. On June 16, 2021, Kenzō Shirai announced his retirement from artistic gymnastics. He left behind an amazing legacy of 13 major medals and 6 named skills.

Competitive History

Year	Championship	Team	MAG's Individual Events
			AA	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB
2013
	World Championships	N/A					4
2014
	World Championships
2015
	World Championships						7
2016
	Olympic Games			4
2017
	World Championships	N/A
2018
	World Championships		7

Eponymous Skills

Kenzō Shirai is officially known for having 6 original gymnastics skills named after him. These skills are recognized by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and are part of the official Code of Points.

Apparatus	Name(s)	Description(s)	Difficulty	Verification	Competition Achieved
FX	Shirai or Shirai-Nguyen*	A backward somersault with four twists.	F (0.6)	Automatic	2013 AG World Championships
	Shirai 2	A forward somersault with three twists.
	Shirai 3	A backward somersault with a triple twist and a double somersault.	H (0.8)	Petition1	2015 Toyota International Cup
VT	Shirai or Shirai-Kim*	A Yurchenko entry (round-off, back handspring onto the springboard) followed by a triple twist in the air.	5.6 (was 6.0)	Automatic	2013 AG World Championships
	Shirai 2	A Yurchenko entry followed by a 3½ twist in the air.	6.0 (was 6.4)		2016 Summer Olympic Games
	Shirai 3	A round-off, full-twisting handspring onto the vault, followed by a double twist off.	5.4		2017 Melbourne World Cup

*Sometimes, a skill is named after two gymnasts, but if one becomes more famous for it, the name might be shortened to just that gymnast's name.
¹The Shirai 3 on floor was officially named after a special request to the FIG. Other skills were named automatically after they were performed at a competition.

Shirai's skills were very advanced. For example, the Shirai 2 on vault was so difficult that no other gymnast performed it during the 2017–2021 period.

Miscellaneous Facts

Kenzō Shirai is not only skilled in men's gymnastics. In 2017, a video showed him performing the Mustafina on floor. This is a triple Y-turn, a skill usually done in women's artistic gymnastics (WAG). He was also seen doing parts of routines on uneven bars, another WAG event.

In 2018, another video showed Shirai perfectly copying his teammate Mai Murakami's entire floor routine. He performed it to music, including difficult WAG skills like the Gomez. This skill is a quadruple turn with the leg below horizontal. Fans have also shared videos of Shirai training new, very difficult skills. These could have been future original moves on floor and vault.

See also

In Spanish: Kenzō Shirai para niños

• Japan men's national gymnastics team