Saori Yoshida
Saori Yoshida with her coach Kazuhito Sakae after winning the 2008 Olympic gold
Personal information
Born (1982-10-05) 5 October 1982
Tsu, Mie, Japan
Alma materShigakkan University[1]
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight53 kg (117 lb)
Sport
SportProfessional wrestling
EventFreestyle
ClubHigh School Wrestling Club Hisai
Sogho Security Services[2]
ALSOK Tokyo[1]
Coached byMasanori Ohashi
Shigeo Kinase[1]
Kazuhito Sakae
Eikatsu Yoshida[3]
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2004 Athens55 kg
Gold medal – first place2008 Beijing55 kg
Gold medal – first place2012 London55 kg
Silver medal – second place2016 Rio de Janeiro53 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2002 Chalkida55 kg
Gold medal – first place2003 New York55 kg
Gold medal – first place2005 Budapest55 kg
Gold medal – first place2006 Guangzhou55 kg
Gold medal – first place2007 Baku55 kg
Gold medal – first place2008 Tokyo55 kg
Gold medal – first place2009 Herning55 kg
Gold medal – first place2010 Moscow55 kg
Gold medal – first place2011 Istanbul55 kg
Gold medal – first place2012 Edmonton55 kg
Gold medal – first place2013 Budapest55 kg
Gold medal – first place2014 Tashkent53 kg
Gold medal – first place2015 Las Vegas53 kg
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2002 Busan55 kg
Gold medal – first place2006 Doha55 kg
Gold medal – first place2010 Guangzhou55 kg
Gold medal – first place2014 Incheon55 kg
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2004 Tokyo55 kg
Gold medal – first place2005 Wuhan55 kg
Gold medal – first place2007 Bishkek55 kg
Gold medal – first place2008 Jeju55 kg

Saori Yoshida (吉田 沙保里, Yoshida Saori, born 5 October 1982) is a Japanese former freestyle wrestler. Starting in 1998 she won almost every major competition,[4] including three Olympic Games, four Asian Games, and 13 world championships, and became the most decorated athlete in freestyle wrestling history.[5] As of 2016, Yoshida had only three senior career losses in international competitions, to Marcie Van Dusen (0–2) on 20 January 2008 at the Team World Cup series, Valeria Zholobova (1–2) on 27 May 2012 at the World Cup, and to Helen Maroulis (1–4) on 18 August 2016 at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.[6]

Yoshida was the flagbearer for Japan at the 2006 Asian Games[1] and at the 2012 Olympics.[7] In 2007, she became the first female wrestler to be named Japanese Athlete of the Year, and in 2012 she received the People's Honour Award.[1]

Weight

Yoshida started competing internationally as a cadet, in 1998, in the 52 kg category. By 2002, when she moved to seniors, she competed in the 59 kg division. The same year, she lost 4 kg, and remained in the 55 kg category until 2014. She moved to the 53 kg class at the 2014 World Cup and World Championships as part of her preparation for the 2016 Olympics,[8] where the traditional 48–55–63–75 kg scheme will be changed to 48–53–58–63–69–75 kg.[9] However, two weeks after the World Championships she returned to the 55 kg category at the 2014 Asian Games, which kept the old weight divisions.[4] Yoshida announced her retirement on Twitter in January 2019.[10]

Family and public life

Yoshida is the daughter of Eikatsu Yoshida, a former national champion and wrestling coach.[11][1] She started training in wrestling aged 3, following her father and two elder brothers.[12] Since 2011 she is a face of the ALSOK security group and regularly appears in their commercials.[13]

In December 2008, the wrestling singlet which Yoshida wore in the Olympic final bout earlier that year, was sold for 551,000 yen (ca. US$6,123) at an internet auction, and the money was donated to the Japanese Red Cross society.[3]

In 2013, when the International Olympic Committee named wrestling as a candidate for exclusion from the Games, she became an active part of the Japanese lobbying team that persuaded the IOC to retain wrestling at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[5]

In May 2014 Yoshida made a cameo appearance in the Japanese television drama Tokyo Metropolitan Guard Center, and later wished to resume acting after retiring from wrestling.[1]

Olympic Games/World Championship/Asian Games matches

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2016 Olympic silver medalist at 53kg
Loss 89-1 United States Helen Maroulis 1-4 August 18, 2016 2016 Summer Olympics Brazil Rio de Janeiro
Win 89-0 Venezuela Betzabeth Argüello 6-0
Win 88-0 Senegal Isabelle Sambou 4-0
Win 87-0 Azerbaijan Nataliya Synyshyn 9-0
2015 World champion at 53kg
Win 86-0 Sweden Sofia Mattsson 2-1 September 10, 2015 2015 World Championship United States Las Vegas, NV
Win 85-0 North Korea Jong Myong-suk 5-2
Win 84-0 Azerbaijan Anzhela Dorogan 11-0
Win 83-0 Vietnam Nguyễn Thị Lụa 10-0
Win 82-0 Switzerland Nadine Tokar Fall
2014 Asian Games champion at 55kg
Win 81-0 Mongolia Sündeviin Byambatseren 12-1 September 28, 2014 2014 Asian Games South Korea Inchon
Win 80-0 India Babita Kumari 14-4
Win 79-0 Vietnam Phạm Thị Loan Fall
Win 78-0 China Zhong Xuechun 12-9
2014 World champion at 53kg
Win 77-0 Sweden Sofia Mattsson 6-0 September 10, 2014 2014 World Championship Uzbekistan Tashkent
Win 76-0 Canada Jillian Gallays Fall
Win 75-0 Russia Natalia Malysheva 10-0
Win 74-0 China Pang Qianyu Fall
2013 World champion at 55kg
Win 73-0 Sweden Sofia Mattsson 5-0 September 19, 2013 2013 World Championship Hungary Budapest
Win 72-0 Ukraine Iryna Husyak 8-0
Win 71-0 Mongolia Sündeviin Byambatseren 8-0
Win 70-0 Russia Valeria Koblova 7-0
Win 69-0 Romania Ana Maria Pavăl 8-0
2012 World champion at 55kg
Win 68-0 United States Helen Maroulis Fall September 28, 2012 2012 World Championship Canada Strathcona County, AL
Win 67-0 Ukraine Nataliya Synyshyn Fall
Win 66-0 India Geeta Phogat Fall
Win 65-0 Kazakhstan Akziya Dautbayeva Fall
2012 Olympic champion at 55kg
Win 64-0 Canada Tonya Verbeek 3-0, 2-0 9 August, 2012 2012 Summer Olympics United Kingdom London
Win 63-0 Russia Valeria Zholobova 1-0, 2-0
Win 62-0 Azerbaijan Yuliya Ratkevich 1-0, 2-0
Win 61-0 United States Kelsey Campbell 1-0, 1-0
2011 World champion at 55kg
Win 60-0 Canada Tonya Verbeek 0-1, 2-2, 3-2 September 15, 2011 2011 World Championship Turkey Istanbul
Win 59-0 Sweden Ida-Theres Nerell 6-0, 6-0
Win 58-0 Mexico Alma Valencia 5-0, 7-0
Win 57-0 United States Helen Maroulis Fall
Win 56-0 Turkey Emriye Musta Fall
2010 Asian Games champion at 55kg
Win 55-0 China Zhang Lan 5-0, 1-0 November 26, 2010 2010 Asian Games China Guangzhou
Win 54-0 North Korea Pak Yon-hui Fall
Win 53-0 Uzbekistan Liliya Shakirova 1-0, 7-0
Win 52-0 Mongolia Batbaataryn Nomin-Erdene 4-0, 5-0
2010 World champion at 55kg
Win 51-0 Canada Yuliya Ratkevich 2-0, 6-0 September 9, 2010 2010 World Championship Russia Moscow
Win 50-0 Russia Maria Gurova 5-0, 3-0
Win 49-0 United States Tatiana Suarez 3-0, 7-0
Win 48-0 Uzbekistan Tamara Kazaryan 6-0, 6-0
Win 47-0 South Korea Um Ji-eun Fall
2009 World champion at 55kg
Win 46-0 Azerbaijan Sona Ahmadli 3-0, 6-0 September 24, 2009 2009 World Championship Denmark Herning
Win 45-0 Canada Tonya Verbeek 3-0, 3-2
Win 44-0 Romania Ana Maria Pavăl Fall
Win 43-0 France Anna Gomis 1-0, 2-1
Win 42-0 Madagascar Maminirina Rafaliharisolo 8-0, 7-0
2008 Olympic champion at 55kg
Win 41-0 China Xu Li Fall August 16, 2008 2008 Summer Olympics China Beijing
Win 40-0 Canada Tonya Verbeek 2-0, 6-0
Win 39-0 Russia Natalia Golts 2-1, 4-0
Win 38-0 Sweden Ida-Theres Nerell 3-1, 4-0
2007 World champion at 55kg
Win 37-0 Sweden Ida-Theres Nerell 8-0 September 21, 2007 2007 World Championship Azerbaijan Baku
Win 36-0 Belarus Alena Filipava 7-0
Win 35-0 Colombia Jackeline Rentería Castillo 7-4
Win 34-0 Brazil Joice Silva 10-0
Win 33-0 Germany Jessica Bechtel 9-0
2006 Asian Games champion at 55kg
Win 32-0 Kazakhstan Olga Smirnova 3-0, 6-0 December 11, 2006 2006 Asian Games Qatar Doha
Win 31-0 China Su Lihui 6-1, 2-0
Win 30-0 India Alka Tomar 1-0, 5-0
2006 World champion at 55kg
Win 29-0 Belarus Mariya Ivanova 13-0 September 29, 2006 2006 World Championship China Guangzhou
Win 28-0 Sweden Ida-Theres Nerell 10-3
Win 27-0 France Anna Gomis 3-1
Win 26-0 Russia Natalya Golts 8-0
Win 25-0 Venezuela Marcia Mendoza 6-3
2005 World champion at 55kg
Win 24-0 China Lihui Su 6-0 September 28, 2005 2006 World Championship Hungary Budapest
Win 23-0 Canada Tonya Verbeek 4-0
Win 22-0 Moldova Ludmila Cristea 6-0
Win 21-0 Romania Ana Maria Paval 4-0
Win 20-0 India Rathi Neha 10-0
2004 Olympic champion at 55kg
Win 19-0 Canada Tonya Verbeek 5-0 August 23, 2004 2004 Summer Olympics Greece Athens
Win 18-0 France Anna Gomis 7-6
Win 17-0 Italy Diletta Giampiccolo 10-0 August 22, 2004
Win 16-0 China Sun Dongmei 11-0
2003 World champion at 55kg
Win 15-0 United States Tina George 5-2 September 12, 2003 2003 World Championship United States New York City, NY
Win 14-0 Russia Natalya Golts 3-2
Win 13-0 Canada Jennifer Ryz 10-0
Win 12-0 Poland Monika Michalik 4-0
Win 11-0 Hungary Kitti Godo 3-0
Win 10-0 Belarus Olga Serbina 10-0
2002 World champion at 55kg
Win 9-0 United States Tina George 10-4 November 11, 2002 2002 World Championship Greece Chalkida
Win 8-0 Sweden Ida-Theres Nerell 10-0
Win 7-0 Canada Jennifer Ryz 11-0
Win 6-0 Spain Minerva Perez 10-1
Win 5-0 Ukraine Tatyana Lazareva 3-0
2002 Asian Games champion at 55kg
Win 4-0 South Korea Lee Na-lae 11-1 October 6, 2002 2002 Asian Games South Korea Busan
Win 3-0 India Alka Tomar 10-0
Win 2-0 Mongolia Naidangiin Otgonjargal 7-0
Win 1-0 China Sun Dongmei 10-0

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "YOSHIDA Saori". incheon2014ag.org. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Saori Yoshida". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world". japan-wrestling.org. 2008.
  4. 1 2 Yoshida, Saori (JPN). iat.uni-leipzig.de
  5. 1 2 Iwamoto, Shintaro (September 20, 2013) WRESTLING/ Yoshida captures 11th straight world championship Archived September 29, 2014, at archive.today. ajw.asahi.com.
  6. ↑ Odeven, Ed (May 31, 2012). "Yoshida returns focus to Olympic three-peat after rare defeat". The Japan Times. p. 20. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012.
  7. ↑ "OLYMPICS WRESTLING: 2-time gold medalist Yoshida eager to break 'flag-bearer jinx'". The Asahi Shimbun. August 4, 2012. Archived from the original on August 8, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  8. ↑ Yoshida, Icho extend dominance. japantimes.co.jp. September 12, 2014
  9. ↑ Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Rio 2016. FILA
  10. ↑ Diamond, James (January 9, 2019). "Thirteen-time UWW world champion and triple Olympic gold medallist Yoshida retires". inside the games.
  11. ↑ Japan Blanks Russia for Women's World Cup Crown. aipsmedia.com
  12. ↑ Athletes > Saori Yoshida > Bio. 2008.nbcolympics.com
  13. ↑ ALSOK Commercial Song. G!VOICE, Vol. 52, September 2012.
  14. ↑ "東京スポーツ プロレス大賞：選考経過（2000～2009）". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  15. ↑ "東京スポーツ プロレス大賞（2010～）". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved December 16, 2017.
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