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
Height	162 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
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 retired Japanese artistic gymnast who many people consider one of the greatest of all time. He is a seven-time Olympic medalist, with three gold and four silver medals. He also won 21 medals at the World Championships.

Uchimura became famous for winning almost every major competition for eight years straight. He is the only gymnast ever to win every major all-around title during an entire Olympic cycle (the four years between Olympic Games), and he did it twice in a row. This amazing achievement included six World Championship titles and two Olympic gold medals in the individual all-around event.

He is known for performing very difficult routines with incredible accuracy and style. The International Gymnast Magazine praised him for his "combination of tremendous difficulty, supreme consistency and extraordinary elegance of performance." Because of his amazing skills, fans gave him nicknames like "King Kohei" and "Superman."

Early Life and Training

Kōhei Uchimura was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Gymnastics was a big part of his family. His parents, Kazuhisa and Shuko Uchimura, were both competitive gymnasts and owned a sports club. Kōhei started gymnastics there when he was only three years old.

When he was 15, he moved to Tokyo to train with Naoya Tsukahara, a famous gymnast who had won an Olympic gold medal. This was a big step in his journey to becoming a world champion. When asked about his success, Uchimura said, "All I believe in is practice."

Senior Career

First Olympic Medals

Uchimura joined Japan's senior national team in 2007. The next year, he was chosen for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. There, he helped his team win a silver medal. He also won a silver medal in the individual all-around competition, which was Japan's first Olympic medal in that event in 24 years. He also showed off his amazing skills on the floor exercise, where he placed fifth.

A Reign of Dominance

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

From 2009 to 2016, Uchimura was nearly unbeatable. He won his first all-around world title at the 2009 World Championships. He won by a huge margin of 2.575 points. This was just the beginning of an incredible winning streak.

He went on to win the all-around gold medal at the World Championships in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015. This made him the first gymnast, male or female, to win six consecutive world all-around titles.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Uchimura won the gold medal in the men's all-around final, proving he was the best in the world. He also helped the Japanese team win a silver medal and won a silver medal for his floor exercise routine.

The 2016 Rio Olympics

Uchimura at the 2016 Rio Olympics

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Uchimura led the Japanese men's team to a gold medal. It was the first time Japan had won the team event since 2004.

Just two days later, he won the individual all-around gold medal again. The competition was very close, and he won by only 0.099 points. This made him the first gymnast in 44 years to win the all-around title at two Olympics in a row.

Later Career and Injuries

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

In 2017, Uchimura's amazing winning streak came to an end. He injured his ankle during the World Championships and had to withdraw from the competition. This was the first time in nine years he did not win a medal at a major event.

He returned in 2018 to help the Japanese team win a bronze medal at the World Championships and also won a silver medal on the horizontal bar. However, injuries continued to bother him.

At the age of 32, Uchimura competed in his fourth and final Olympics, the 2020 Summer Olympics in his home country of Japan. He competed only on the horizontal bar but made a mistake in the qualifying round and did not make it to the final.

Retirement

On January 10, 2022, Kōhei Uchimura officially announced his retirement from gymnastics. After a long and successful career, years of difficult training and injuries had taken a toll on his body.

Uchimura retired as a legend of the sport. He is remembered for his incredible consistency, beautiful technique, and long period of dominance. Many people agree that 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 qualified to compete in the opening rounds of the individual parallel bars event, but withdrew to focus on high bar.
²Uchimura was injured and withdrew during qualifications of the men's individual AA competition after awkward vault landing.

Personal life

Uchimura married his wife Chiho in 2012. They have two daughters, who were born in 2013 and 2015. When asked if he would teach them gymnastics, he said he probably would if they were boys, but he finds women's gymnastics to be much more difficult to understand. He is also known for eating only one meal a day and not being a fan of vegetables.

See also

In Spanish: Kōhei Uchimura para niños

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