Nickname
King Kohei, Superman (insidethegames.biz, 27 Jun 2020; fig-gymnastics.com, 21 Oct 2015; nikkansports.com, 27 Mar 2019)
Family
Wife Chiho, two daughters Toa and Chia
Spoken languages
Japanese
Sporting relatives
His mother Shuko competed in artistic gymnastics at university level in Japan, and went on to coach the sport. She returned to competitive action at the 2014 All-Japan Senior Tournament, 30 years after her retirement from gymnastics. (tsunebo.com, 15 Dec 2014; sponichi.co.jp, 16 Sep 2014; nikkansports.com, 21 Sep 2015; gifu-np.co.jp, 20 Sep 2020)
International senior debut
2005
Injuries
He suffered injuries to both his shoulders at the 2019 All Japan Championships, which ruled him out of contention for the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. (nikkansports.com, 27 May 2019, 26 Jun 2020; news.yahoo.co.jp, 16 Jul 2019; nhk.or.jp, 07 Jan 2020; tokyo-np.co.jp, 13 Feb 2020)
In September 2018 he suffered a right ankle ligament injury that prevented him from competing in the individual all-around event at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. (olympics.nbcsports.com, 02 Oct 2018; mainichi.jp, 24 Apr 2019)
In October 2017 he was diagnosed with a partially torn ligament in his left ankle, sustained at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal, QC, Canada, where he withdrew from the competition. (intlgymnast.com, 03 Oct 2017; mainichi.jp, 24 Apr 2019; sponichi.co.jp, 24 Jul 2019)
He was hampered by a shoulder injury in the build-up to the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. (bbc.co.uk, 23 Oct 2015)
Start sporting career
He began gymnastics in 1992 at the Sports Club Uchimura in Isahaya, Japan, which his parents ran. He took up the sport seriously after high school.
Reason for taking up the sport
His parents owned a sports club.
Milestones
At the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, he became the first male Japanese artistic gymnast to have competed at eight editions of the world championships. He equalled Kyoko Oshima's record of eight appearances, which had been the most by a Japanese artistic gymnast of any gender. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Aug 2020)
At the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, he became the first Japanese artistic gymnast of either gender to have won a career total of eight world championship gold medals. He won three gold medals in Glasgow, meaning he was also the first Japanese artistic gymnast to win nine and 10 world championship gold medals. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Aug 2020)
At the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, People's Republic of China, he became the first Japanese artistic gymnast of either gender to win a career total of 16 world championship medals of any colour. After the 2018 edition his tally had risen to 21 total world championship medals. He did not compete at the 2019 edition. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Aug 2020)
Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning four medals, including two gold, at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. (intlgymnast.com, 30 Apr 2018)
Hero / Idol
His father. (tv-asahi.co.jp, 25 Sep 2021)
Philosophy / Motto
"Despite losing, I always stay positive. It is my strength. Those who are always positive can dominate the world." (Mainichi Shimbun YouTube channel, 11 Mar 2019)
Awards
In 2019 he was named one of the Japanese Olympic Committee's [JOC] Symbol Athletes. (Japan Olympic Team YouTube channel, 29 Aug 2019)
In 2016 and 2018 he received the Seiko Excellence Award in Japan. (jpn-gym.or.jp, 20 May 2018)
In 2012 and 2017 he was presented with the Medal with Purple Ribbon by the government of Japan. (uchimura-kohei.com, 10 Oct 2018)
In 2017 he received the Olympic Special Award at the Japan Sports Awards. (uchimura-kohei.com, 10 Oct 2018)
He was given an Excellence Award at the JOC Sports Awards in 2009, 2010 and 2015. (joc.or.jp, 2015)
In 2015 he was presented with the Big Sports Award at the 49th TV Asahi Big Sports Awards in Japan. (oricon.co.jp, 16 Jan 2015)
He was presented with the Best Athlete of the Year Award at the JOC Sports Awards in 2010, 2012 and 2014. (uchimura-kohei.com, 29 Dec 2016)
He received the Prize for Elegance at the world championships in 2011, 2013 and 2014. (fig-gymnastics.com, 26 Oct 2017)
He received the Special Honorary Award at the 2013 JOC Sports Awards. (uchimura-kohei.com, 10 Oct 2018)
Additional information
RETIREMENT
In January 2022 he announced his retirement from competitive artistic gymnastics. "As long as I can still move my body, I will keep on doing gymnastics. But competition is now just too tough. My body has reached its limit. And even if I were to continue competing, I think it would be difficult to get into the Japanese team." (gymnastics.sport, 11 Jan 2022; nhk.or.jp, 14 Jan 2022)
TOKYO 2020 EXPERIENCE
Before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo he described the Games as a "once-in-a-lifetime chance" and said he expected Tokyo 2020 to be a significantly different experience compared to his previous Olympic appearances in 2008, 2012 and 2016. As he had been troubled by shoulder problems, he decided to focus only on the horizontal bar for Tokyo. "I just thought that it was no longer realistic for me to do all six disciplines anymore and felt the horizontal bar is where my best shot at the Olympics was." He did not reach the horizontal bar final in Tokyo, meaning it was the first time in his career he had competed at the Olympic Games and not won a medal. "People say, 'It is always meaningful to be on the Olympic stage', but I didn't understand that before. However, now I have experienced that [competing at the Olympic Games without winning a medal], I understand it. Even if you make mistakes, you learn lessons in life." (Olympic Channel Instagram profile, 31 Aug 2020; news.yahoo.co.jp, 30 Jul 2020; nikkansports.com, 26 Mar 2020; Mainichi Shimbun YouTube channel, 11 Mar 2019; nhk.or.jp, 07 Jan 2020, 26 Jun 2020, 01 Sep 2021; tokyo-sports.co.jp, 02 Jul 2020; eurosport.com, 24 Jul 2021)
MISSED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
He was not able to secure a spot for the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, due to shoulder injuries sustained at the 2019 All Japan Championships. He had previously competed at every world championships since 2009. "It was difficult to watch the world championships in 2019 from Japan, because I always expected to be there. I never imagined that this would happen to me before my retirement from competition. However, when I look back on my achievements, maybe things went too smoothly for me. Sometimes I was asked about how to overcome tough times before and after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and I didn't really know what to say. But if I'm asked it again now, I would say that it's okay to fail or fall down. Despite not being selected to the national team and suffering shoulder injuries, it forms an experience that is part of my life. Perhaps it was something I had to experience." (nhk.or.jp, 07 Jan 2020)
Last update : 2024-07-22
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