‘King Kohei’ crowns competitive career in men’s gymnastics with farewell showcase
13:49 JST, March 13, 2022
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kohei Uchimura, the gymnastics superstar who won the individual all-around at both the 2012 London and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, gave fans and teammates a farewell performance at Tokyo Metropolitan Gym on Saturday.
“My life in gymnastics definitely doesn’t end here,” the 33-year-old said at the event marking his retirement from competition, adding that from now on, “Please support the new Kohei Uchimura.”
Uchimura performed on all six apparatus that make up the all-around. He ended with the horizontal bar, his lone event at last year’s Tokyo Olympics in which he fell in qualifying and did not make the final.
This time he successfully performed the highly difficult Bretschneider, earning a big round of applause.
Uchimura, who won six consecutive world all-around titles to go with his seven Olympic medals, announced his retirement in January.
Kenzo Shirai, 25, a retired member of the gold-medal men’s team at the Rio Games, and 20-year-old Daiki Hashimoto, Uchimura’s successor to the Olympic all-around crown at Tokyo 2020, also participated in the send-off for “King Kohei.”
"Sports" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Shohei Ohtani Defied Ex-Interpreter’s Request to Cover Up Fraud, Report
-
Shohei Ohtani Hits 176 MLB Homers; the Most by a Japanese-Born Player Surpassing Hideki Matsui
-
Japanese Public Divided Over Hosting Future Olympic Games As Corruption, Bid-Rigging Scandals Blunt Enthusiasm
-
Here’s How Investigators Allege Ippei Mizuhara Stole $16 million From Shohei Ohtani
-
Hanshin Tigers Create Video to Combat Insults, Offensive Songs Against Other Teams
JN ACCESS RANKING
- M6.0 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Tohoku Region; Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi Prefectures Observe 4 on Japanese Scale With No Risk of Tsunami
- Cherry Blossoms Draw Crowd to Tokyo’s Ueno Park; Viewing Season Kicks Off to Slow Start
- China Mutes Memorialization of Reformer Hu Yaobang; Memories Could Spark Critique of Xi Administration
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers
- Whaling Mother Ship Built in Japan for 1st Time in 73 Years