Nickname
Mr Twist, Hineri Prince [Twist Prince]. (japantimes.co.jp, 21 Jun 2015; toto-growing.com, 01 Oct 2014)
Occupation
Student
Education
Physical Education - Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, JPN
Spoken languages
Japanese
Club
Nippon Sport Science University [Tokyo, JPN]
Coach
Yoshiaki Hatakeda [club], JPN; Hisashi Mizutori [national], JPN (nittai.ac.jp, 04 Apr 2018; tokyo-sports.co.jp, 11 Apr 2017; mainichi.jp, 16 Jul 2018)
Sporting relatives
His older brother Shotaro won a gold medal in artistic gymnastics [team event] at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Republic of Korea. His father Masaki and mother Norimi have both coached the sport. (sponichi.co.jp, 18 Jul 2017; dot.asahi.com, 22 Jun 2014)
Injuries
In August 2019 he damaged muscles and suffered a left shoulder subluxation during a horizontal bar training session. The injures ruled him out of the 2019 All Japan Senior Championships. He returned to competitive action in December 2019. (number.bunshun.jp, 25 Apr 2020)
A left ankle injury ruled him out of the 2019 American Cup in Greensboro, NC, United States of America. He competed at the 2019 All Japan Individual All-Around Championships in April despite suffering the injury. (thegymter.net, 04 Mar 2019; asahi.com, 02 Jun 2020; number.bunshun.jp, 25 Apr 2020)
In June 2014 he damaged ligaments and suffered bone bruising in his right ankle. He required six weeks of rest. (number.bunshun.jp, 02 Oct 2014)
In August 2013 he suffered a partial dislocation of his left shoulder joint, and damaged muscles in the left shoulder during training on the horizontal bar. (asahi.com, 02 Jun 2020; number.bunshun.jp, 25 Apr 2020)
National Team
2013 (number.bunshun.jp, 02 Oct 2014)
Start sporting career
He began the sport at his father's gymnastics club at age three. (toto-growing.com, 01 Oct 2014; dot.asahi.com, 22 Jun 2014)
Reason for taking up the sport
He was influenced by his two older brothers. (dot.asahi.com, 22 Jun 2014)
Milestones
In 2013 he became the youngest male [at the time] to win a gold medal on floor exercise at the world championships when he was victorious in Antwerp, Belgium, at age 17 years and 42 days old. (bbc.com, 06 Oct 2013; gymmedia.com, 06 Oct 2013; SportsDeskOnline, 05 Oct 2013)
Ambitions
To win an individual and team gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Gymnastics Soul YouTube channel, 15 Oct 2017; sanspo.com, 24 Jul 2017)
Hero / Idol
Japanese artistic gymnast Kohei Uchimura. (tv-asahi.co.jp, 07 Jun 2018)
Most influential person in career
Coach Haruo Mizuguchi. (sanspo.com, 21 Sep 2020)
Philosophy / Motto
"Believe in yourself." (tv-asahi.co.jp, 07 Jun 2018)
Awards
He was presented with the Prize for Elegance at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal, QC, Canada. (fig-gymnastics.com, 07 Oct 2017)
In 2016 he received the Kanagawa Sports Olympic Award in Japan. (pref.kanagawa.jp, 18 Oct 2016)
In 2016 he received the Tokyo Honorary Award in Japan. (sports-tokyo.info, 12 Oct 2016)
He received an Excellent Athlete Award at the Japan Gymnastics Association Awards in 2013 and 2015. (kobe-np.co.jp, 16 Jan 2016; plala.or.jp, 16 Jan 2014)
He was named 2013 Rookie of the Year by the Japanese Olympic Committee. (joc.or.jp, 2013)
Additional information
General
RETURN HOME
In March 2020 he returned to his hometown Yokohama, Japan after he was not allowed to use the training venue at Nippon Sport Science University due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He trained with his former coach Haruo Mizuguch for three months at Tsrumi Junior Artistic Gymnastics Club. "I was going through a tough time [after suffering injuries in 2019]. I even wanted to quit the sport at one time. Therefore it is true that I felt relieved [about the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games]. It made me go back to point zero, and I was able to get myself sorted out while training in my hometown." (sanspo.com, 21 Sep 2020; thedigestweb.com, 10 Jun 2020; Instagram profile, 09 Jun 2020; tokyo-sports.co.jp, 21 Sep 2020)
ELEMENTS
He has had elements in the floor exercise and vault named after him. In the floor exercise, the 'Shirai-Nguyen' was named after him and Vietnamese artistic gymnast Nguyen Tuan Dat. In the vault, the 'Shirai-Kim Hee Hoon' was named after him and Korean artistic gymnast Kim Hee-Hoon. 'Shirai 2' and 'Shirai 3' were also named after him in both the floor exercise and the vault. (joc.or.jp, 05 Apr 2017; sankei.com, 13 Feb 2016; j-wave.co.jp, 12 Jun 2015; ajw.asahi.com, 02 Oct 2013)
FURTHER EDUCATION
He has studied for a master's degree at Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo, Japan. (sponichi.co.jp, 25 Nov 2018; asahi.com, 02 Jun 2020)
Last update : 2020-12-21
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