Takeru Kitazono

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Takeru Kitazono
2018-10-15 Horizontal bar Victory ceremony (Apparatus final Boys' Artistic Gymnastics) at 2018 Summer Youth Olympics by Sandro Halank–003.jpg
Kitazono at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
Personal information
Full nameTakeru Kitazono
Country represented Japan
Born (2002-10-21) October 21, 2002 (age 18)
Osaka, Japan
ResidenceOsaka, Japan
Height1.54 m (5 ft 1 in)
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
LevelElite
Years on national teamJapan
ClubSeifu High School
GymTokushukai
Head coach(es)Isao Yoneda, Hisashi Mizutori
Former coach(es)Hideki Umemoto
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Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Győr Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Győr Pommel Horse
Gold medal – first place 2019 Győr Parallel Bars
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Buenos Aires All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2018 Buenos Aires Floor Exercise
Gold medal – first place 2018 Buenos Aires Rings
Gold medal – first place 2018 Buenos Aires Parallel Bars
Gold medal – first place 2018 Buenos Aires Horizontal Bar
Representing International Olympic Committee Mixed-NOCs
Youth Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Mixed team

Takeru Kitazono (北園 丈琉, Kitazono Takeru, born 21 October 2002) is a Japanese male artistic gymnast.[1] At the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he won five gold medals in the all-around, floor, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar competitions.[2] He was the first artistic gymnast ever to achieve such a feat in a single Youth Olympic Games.[3]

Personal life[]

Kitazono was born on 21 October 2002 in Osaka, Japan. He started gymnastics when he was three years old after his mother enrolled him in a nearby gym[4] because he was fascinated with a Japanese superhero television series Kamen Rider Hibiki.[5]

Kitazono has received two awards. At the 2018 Japanese Olympic Committee Sports Awards, he received a Rookie Award.[5] In 2019, he received Big Sports Rookie Award at the 53rd TV Asahi Big Sports Awards.[5]

Gymnastics career[]

2017[]

In 2017, Kitazono fractured his left ankle during training. The injury was still troubling him at the national trials for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[5]

2018[]

Kitazono was selected to represent Japan at the third Youth Olympics Games. While there he won an unprecedented five gold medals – in the all-around, floor exercise, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar – beating the previous record of three gold medals won by Nikita Nagornyy and Giarnni Regini-Moran at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. He finished sixth on pommel horse.[3] In addition to his five gold medals, Kitazono also received a silver medal in the mixed multi-discipline team (teams were randomly composed of gymnasts from various countries and various disciplines). Kitazono was assigned to the team named after British gymnast Max Whitlock.

Kitazono later competed at the All-Japan Team Championships where he helped his club finish seventh.[6]

2019[]

Takeru Kitazono at a 2019 Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships victory ceremony.

In January Kitazono competed at the RD761 Junior International Cup where he helped Japan win gold and individually he placed first in the all-around and on pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars and he placed seventh on horizontal bar and sixth on floor exercise.[7]

Kitazono was selected to represent Japan at the inaugural Junior World Championships alongside Ryosuke Doi and Shinnosuke Oka. While there the team won gold in the team final finishing nearly 3 points ahead of second place Ukraine. Although Kitazono recorded the third-highest all-around score of the day, he was left off the podium due to both teammates scoring higher and the two-per-country rule taking place.[8] During event finals he won gold on pommel horse and parallel bars and placed seventh on floor exercise.[9]

2021[]

In April, Kitazono damaged ligaments in both elbows while competing on the high bar at the All Japan Championships, the national selection trials for the 2020 Olympic Games.[5]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Kitazono is competing for Japan on a team which also includes Kazuma Kaya, Daiki Hashimoto, and Kakeru Tanigawa.[10] He won Olympic an silver with the squad in the men's all around team competition. The team acheived a combined score of 262.397 which was 0.103 points behind that of the winning Russian Olympic Committee team.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "KITAZONO Takeru". www.fig-gymnastics.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  2. ^ "Buenos Aires 2018". Buenos Aires 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Takeru Kitazono: A star is born - Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  4. ^ "TAKERU KITAZONO: THE NEW UCHIMURA?". Olympic Channel. October 18, 2018.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Artistic Gymnastics KITAZONO Takeru". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  6. ^ "20188 All Japan Team Championships Mens Results". The Gymternet. November 28, 2018.
  7. ^ "2019 RD761 Junior International Cup Results". The Gymternet. January 20, 2019.
  8. ^ "Japan Take Historic Golds At The Junior World Championships!". Hungarian Gymnastics Federation. June 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "2019 Junior World Championships Mens Results". The Gymternet. July 3, 2019.
  10. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics - Team Japan". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  11. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics - Final Results". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
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