Occupation
Athlete
Spoken languages
Japanese
Club
Tokio Inkarami : Japan
Coach
Akiko Maruyama [national], JPN
Injuries
She fractured her left elbow after a bad landing during training in 2010 and underwent surgery. She returned to competition two months after the operation. (yahoo.co.jp, 16 Aug 2019; style.nikkei.com, 10 May 2019; bs4.jp, 28 Sep 2014)
Start sporting career
She began taking trampolining classes at age four in Tokyo, Japan.
Reason for taking up the sport
Her mother paid 200 Japanese yen for Hikaru and her brothers to play on a trampoline at a park in the rooftop garden of a supermarket. "I felt like I was flying in the sky. I enjoyed it very much."
Milestones
She became the first trampoline gymnast representing Japan to win an individual gold medal at the world championships by claiming victory in the women's individual event at the 2019 edition of the tournament in Tokyo, Japan. (SportsDeskOnline, 05 Jun 2020; asahi.com, 01 Dec 2019)
She and Megu Uyama became the first female trampoline gymnasts representing Japan to win gold at the world championships when they claimed victory in the synchro event at the 2018 edition in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. (SportsDeskOnline, 31 Oct 2019; jiji.com, 12 Nov 2018)
Ambitions
To win gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (nhk.or.jp, 09 May 2022)
Hero / Idol
Japanese fencer Yuki Ota. (sanspo.com, 14 Jan 2020)
Most influential person in career
Her mother Mika Mori. (sankei.com, 30 Jul 2021)
Philosophy / Motto
"Believe in yourself." (toyota-mobi-tokyo.co.jp, 16 Jun 2023)
Awards
In 2020 she received a Special Award at the Asahi TV Big Sports Awards in Japan. (jpn-gym.or.jp, 08 Dec 2019)
She was named the 2019 Gymnast of the Year by the Japan Gymnastics Association. (chunichi.co.jp, 18 Jan 2020)
In 2019 she received a Sports Encouragement Award at the Asahi TV Big Sports Awards in Japan. (Asahi TV YouTube channel, 15 Jan 2019)
In 2018 and 2019 she was presented with the Ishikawa Prefecture Sports Special Award in Japan. (yahoo.co.jp, 18 Dec 2019; Hokuriku Asahi Broadcasting YouTube channel, 10 Dec 2018)
She received a citation award in 2016 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [MEXT] in Japan. (zyuken.net, 08 Jul 2016)
Additional information
TOKYO PRESSURE
She found it difficult to deal with outside expectations to win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she failed to make the final. "I felt immense pressure to meet the expectations to win a medal and it was getting more and more difficult to deal with. I've been scared of jumping since a month ago [speaking in July 2021]. It became worse and worse. I'm really disappointed that I couldn't give my best performance at the Olympic Games. It was a disappointing result, but I'm grateful that I've come this far. No matter how painful it was, I never gave up, for which I'm proud of myself." (kyodonews.com, 31 Jul 2021; sankei.com, 30 Jul 2021; nikkansports.com, 30 Jul 2021)
MOVE TO KANAZAWA
Born in Tokyo, Japan, she and her mother moved to Kanazawa while she was in grade 10 of high school to gain access to more trampolining opportunities. "It was difficult to get used to a new training environment for the first time, but I could endure it thanks to my mother." (yahoo.co.jp, 16 Aug 2019; style.nikkei.com, 10 May 2019)
Last update : 2024-07-22
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