Kenzō Shirai facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kenzō Shirai |
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| Nickname(s) | Mr Twister Twist Prince (Japanese) |
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| Country represented |  Japan |
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| Born | August 24, 1996 Yokohama, Kanagawa |
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| Height | 162 cm (5 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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) |
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| Former coach(es) | Masaki Shirai (father) Norimi Shirai (mother) |
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| Eponymous skills | Shirai/Shirai-Nguyen (FX): bwd (straight) quad (4/1) full
Shirai 2 (FX): fwd/front triple (3/1)-twisting layout (fwds) (back layout) double full off" |
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| Retired | June 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Kenzō Shirai (白井 健三, Shirai Kenzō, born August 24, 1996) is a retired gymnast from Japan. He was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa. Kenzō went to Kishine High School and later joined Nippon Sport Science University. He won a team gold medal and a bronze medal on vault at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He also achieved many big wins at the World Championships.
Contents
Early Life and Training
Kenzō Shirai started gymnastics when he was very young. His parents, Masaki and Norimi, were his first coaches and owned a gymnastics club. Kenzō often said he grew up in the gym. Instead of going to daycare, his parents took him to their work. He trained for six hours a day, five to seven days a week. Even with all this training, he still went to a regular school, which was unusual for a top athlete. After high school in March 2015, he joined Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo. Many other Japanese gymnasts, including his mentor Kōhei Uchimura, also trained there.
Amazing Gymnastics Career
Kenzō Shirai had six gymnastics moves named after him. This happened because he was the first person to successfully perform these moves in big international competitions approved by the gymnastics federation. He was a key member of the Japanese men's gymnastics team from 2013 to 2018. His career ended when he retired on June 16, 2021, after not making the team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
2013: A Young Champion Emerges
In 2013, Kenzō Shirai was just 17 years old. He was the youngest male gymnast at the World Championships in Antwerp. He qualified first on the floor exercise (FX). He then became the youngest male gymnast ever to win a World Championship gold medal on floor. His routine had an amazing 22¼ twists, which was very difficult. He won by a large margin, and a sports expert even said, "there is no way Shirai doesn't win this" before his final routine. He also qualified first on vault (VT) but finished fourth in the finals.
Three of his signature moves were named after him this year:
- The Shirai or Shirai-Kim on vault: This is a "triple-twisting Yurchenko".
- The Shirai or Shirai-Nguyen on floor: This is a backward quadruple-twisting layout.
- The Shirai 2 on floor: This is a forward triple twist.
2014: Team Silver and Close Calls
At the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, Kenzō helped the Japanese team win a silver medal. They were very close to winning gold, just 0.1 points behind China. Kenzō again reached the finals for both floor and vault. On floor, he had a very difficult routine but stepped out of bounds, which cost him the gold medal by a tiny amount. On vault, he had excellent execution but his second vault was less difficult, placing him fourth.
2015: World Team Gold and More Gold Medals
At the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Kenzō Shirai and the Japanese team won the all-around team gold medal. This was the first time Japan had won this title since 1978. Kenzō had the highest floor score of the entire competition. He won another gold medal in the individual floor exercise finals. His routine was very difficult and included many complex twists and combinations. He also started performing "double-somersault" moves on floor very consistently.
In December, at the Toyota Cup, his fourth signature move was named: the Shirai 3 on floor. This is a triple-twisting double layout, which was one of the hardest moves at the time.
2016: Olympic Glory
Rio de Janeiro Olympics
At 19 years old, Kenzō Shirai became the youngest male Japanese gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal. This happened when the Japanese men's team won the team all-around title at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Kenzō's scores on vault and floor were the highest for those events in the entire competition, greatly helping his team.
In the vault finals, Kenzō performed a new, top-scoring move on his first attempt. This move became his fifth signature skill: the Shirai 2 on vault, which is a Yurchenko with 3½ twists. He won a bronze medal on vault.
In the floor exercise finals, Kenzō was expected to win because he was the reigning world champion. However, he had some landing issues during his routine. He later mentioned that the audience's loud reactions for non-Brazilian gymnasts were distracting.
2017: More World Titles
In February, at the Melbourne World Cup, Kenzō won gold medals on floor, vault, and high bar. He also won a silver medal on parallel bars. Here, his sixth signature move was named: the Shirai 3 on vault. This made him the official owner of the most named moves in men's artistic gymnastics by the FIG.
At the 2017 World Championships in Montreal, Kenzō reached the finals for the individual all-around, floor, and vault, winning medals in all three. He took a bronze medal in the all-around. He successfully defended his gold medal on floor, winning by a large margin. He also won the vault title by a very small difference.
2018: Challenges and Continued Success
In March 2018, Kenzō competed at the American Cup. He was a favorite to win, but he made some mistakes and falls, placing sixth. However, he quickly recovered and won the Tokyo World Cup a month later.
Throughout 2018, Kenzō won silver medals in the all-around at the All-Japan Championships and NHK Trophy. He also won the All-Japan Student Championships. He secured a gold medal on floor and a silver on vault at the All-Japan Event Championships.
At the 2018 World Championships in Doha, the Japanese team won a bronze medal. Kenzō was not at his best form and simplified some of his routines due to injury. Despite this, he still managed to win a silver medal on floor and a bronze on vault, and he placed seventh in the all-around.
2019: Battling Injuries
In 2019, Kenzō Shirai faced a tough year due to a persistent left ankle injury. He had to withdraw from some competitions and simplify his routines. At the Tokyo World Cup in April, he won a bronze medal despite his injury. A sports analyst, Tim Daggett, praised him, calling him a "man, myth, legend" who could do things "people thought were literally impossible."
His injury continued to affect his performance in other competitions, including the All-Japan AA Championships and the NHK Trophy. For the first time since his debut in 2013, Kenzō did not make the Japanese men's national team for the 2019 World Championships. This was a big disappointment, as he couldn't defend his world medals. He worked hard to recover, but he was still not in top form.
In December 2019, Kenzō competed at the Toyota International Cup, where he had a winning streak on floor and vault in previous years. He qualified first on floor and second on vault but had to withdraw from all events due to his ankle injury.
2020/2021: Retirement
Injuries and Retirement
In December 2020, Kenzō Shirai competed at the All-Japan Championships. He didn't perform as well as in previous years, placing 18th in the all-around. This competition was important for selecting the team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 Summer Olympics were delayed until July 2021. Kenzō began thinking about retirement because of his ongoing injuries. He made one last attempt to qualify for the Olympics at the 2021 All-Japan Championships in early 2021. After not qualifying, he announced his retirement from gymnastics on June 16, 2021. He left behind an amazing legacy of 13 major medals and 6 named gymnastics moves.
Competitive History
| Year | Championship | Team | MAG's Individual Events | ||||||
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| AA | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB | |||
| 2013 | |||||||||
| World Championships | N/A |  |
4 | ||||||
| 2014 | |||||||||
| World Championships |  |
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| 2015 | |||||||||
| World Championships | |
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7 | ||||||
| 2016 | |||||||||
| Olympic Games | 4 |  |
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| 2017 | |||||||||
| World Championships | N/A | |
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| 2018 | |||||||||
| World Championships | |
7 | |
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Eponymous Skills: Moves Named After Shirai
Kenzō Shirai is officially recognized for 6 original gymnastics moves that are named after him. These moves are part of the official gymnastics rulebook, called the Code of Points.
| Apparatus | Name(s) | Description(s) | Difficulty | Verification | Competition Achieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FX |
Shirai or Shirai-Nguyen* | A backward quadruple (4-time) twisting layout somersault. | F (0.6) | Automatic | 2013 AG World Championships |
| Shirai 2 | A forward triple (3-time) twisting straight somersault. | ||||
| Shirai 3 | A backward triple-twisting double layout somersault, also called a "triple-double" layout. | H (0.8) | Petition1 | 2015 Toyota International Cup | |
VT |
Shirai or Shirai-Kim* | A Yurchenko entry into a triple twist. | 5.6 (was 6.0) |
Automatic | 2013 AG World Championships |
| Shirai 2 | A Yurchenko entry into a 3½ twist. | 6.0 (was 6.4) |
2016 Summer Olympic Games | ||
| Shirai 3 | A full-twisting entry into a double twist, also called a "full on–double full off". | 5.4 | 2017 Melbourne World Cup |
*Sometimes, skills named after two gymnasts become known by just one name if that gymnast is more famous for it.
1The Shirai 3 on floor was named through a special request process, while others were named automatically after the competition.
Other gymnasts have performed some of Shirai's moves. For example, Takahiro Goshima improved on the Shirai 2 on floor. Even when others did his moves, Kenzō often had the best execution scores. The Shirai 2 on vault, which he first performed at the 2016 Summer Olympics, was so difficult that no other gymnast performed it during the 2017–2021 period.
Fun Facts
In October 2017, a video showed Kenzō Shirai performing the Mustafina on floor, a move usually done by women gymnasts. He also showed he could do parts of routines on other women's gymnastics equipment, like the uneven bars. In December 2018, another video showed him performing his compatriot Mai Murakami's entire floor routine, including very difficult dance moves not usually seen in men's gymnastics. Fans also shared videos of Kenzō training new and even more advanced skills for floor and vault.
See also
In Spanish: Kenzō Shirai para niños
- Japan men's national gymnastics team
