View source for Kōhei Uchimura

{{Short description|Japanese gymnast (born 1989)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox gymnast
| name            = Kōhei Uchimura
| image           = Kohei Uchimura (2011).jpg
| imagesize       =
| caption         = Uchimura in 2011
| fullname        = 
| altname         = 
| nickname        = King Kohei<br />Supermura<br />Superman
| country         = {{JPN}}
| formercountry   = 
| birth_date      = {{birth date and age|1989|01|03}}
| birth_place     = [[Kitakyushu]], [[Fukuoka Prefecture|Fukuoka]]
| death_date      = 
| death_place     = 
| height          = {{convert|162|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name="body">{{Cite web |url=http://fig-gymnastics.com/publicdir/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=22581 |title=UCHIMURA Kohei |access-date=February 26, 2018 |archive-date=February 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227034245/http://fig-gymnastics.com/publicdir/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=22581 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.cnn.co.jp/showbiz/35072354.html CNN Japan] 2015.10.23</ref>
| discipline      = MAG
| natlteam        = 2005–2007 (Jr) ([[Japan men's national gymnastics team|JPN]])<br />2007–2022 (Sr) ([[Japan men's national gymnastics team|JPN]])
| club            = Ringer Hut
| gym             = 
| collegeteam     = [[Nippon Sport Science University]] ([[Nippon Sport Science University|Nittaidai]])
| headcoach       = Hiroyuki Kato
| assistcoach     = [[Yoshiaki Hatakeda]], <br />
[[Koji Gushiken]]
| formercoach     = [[Naoya Tsukahara]]
| choreographer   = 
| music           = 
| eponymousskills = 
| retired         = January 10, 2022<ref name=retirement>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/70186c6f19cbe05d53a0c4872419897ebd6e502f|title=体操・内村航平が現役引退 個人総合で五輪連覇、世界大会でメダル28個の伝説刻む|trans-title=Gymnastics, Kohei Uchimura retires from active duty|date=January 10, 2022|work=[[Yahoo! Japan]]|language=Japanese}}</ref>
| show-medals     = yes
| medaltemplates  = {{MedalCountry|{{JPN}}}}
{{MedalSport| Men's [[artistic gymnastics]] }}
{{MedalCount
|[[Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]|3|4|0
|[[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]|10|6|5
|[[Artistic Gymnastics World Cup|World Cup Final]]|0|1|1
|[[Summer Universiade]]|2|0|1
|total=true
}}
{{MedalOlympic}}
[[File:Olympic rings.svg|center|60px]]
{{MedalGold|[[2012 Summer Olympics|2012 London]]|[[Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic individual all-around|All-Around]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2016 Summer Olympics|2016 Rio de Janeiro]]|[[Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around|Team]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2016 Summer Olympics|2016 Rio de Janeiro]]|[[Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic individual all-around|All-Around]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing]]|[[Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around|Team]]}}
{{MedalSilver|2008 Beijing|[[Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic individual all-around|All-Around]]}}
{{MedalSilver|2012 London|[[Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around|Team]]}}
{{MedalSilver|2012 London|[[Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's floor|Floor Exercise]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2009 London]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalGold|[[2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2010 Rotterdam]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalGold|[[2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2011 Tokyo]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalGold|2011 Tokyo|Floor Exercise}}
{{MedalGold|[[2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2013 Antwerp]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalGold|2013 Antwerp|Parallel Bars}}
{{MedalGold|[[2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2014 Nanning]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalGold|[[2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2015 Glasgow]]|Team}}
{{MedalGold|[[2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2015 Glasgow]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalGold|[[2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2015 Glasgow]]|Horizontal bar}}
{{MedalSilver|2010 Rotterdam|Team}}
{{MedalSilver|2010 Rotterdam|Floor Exercise}}
{{MedalSilver|2011 Tokyo|Team}}
{{MedalSilver|2014 Nanning|Team}}
{{MedalSilver|2014 Nanning|Horizontal Bar}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2018 Doha]]|Horizontal Bar}}
{{MedalBronze|2010 Rotterdam|Parallel Bars}}
{{MedalBronze|2011 Tokyo|Horizontal Bar}}
{{MedalBronze|2013 Antwerp|Floor Exercise}}
{{MedalBronze|2013 Antwerp|Horizontal Bar}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2018 Doha]]|Team}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Artistic Gymnastics World Cup|World Cup Final]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2008 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final|2008 Madrid]]|Floor Exercise}}
{{MedalBronze|2007 Paris|Vault}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Summer Universiade]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2007 Summer Universiade|2007 Bangkok]]|Team}}
{{MedalGold|2007 Bangkok|Floor Exercise}}
{{MedalBronze|2007 Bangkok|Vault}} 
}}

{{Nihongo|'''Kōhei Uchimura'''|内村 航平|Uchimura Kōhei|born January 3, 1989}} is a Japanese retired [[Artistic gymnastics|artistic gymnast]]. He is a seven-time [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] medalist (team, all-around and floor exercise), winning three golds and four silvers, and a 21-time World medalist (team, all-around, floor exercise, parallel bars and the horizontal bar).

Uchimura was already considered by many in the sport to be one of the greatest gymnasts of all time after he completely dominated to unprecedented levels in all the major competitions for the entire quad, and finally finishing the season by winning the Olympic individual all-around gold medal at the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] in [[London]]. However, he then extended those accomplishments even further when he followed it up with continued and uninterrupted victories of every major competition again throughout the next Olympic cycle, replicating the feat he achieved in the last quad, which led him to win two additional gold medals on team and individual all-around at the [[2016 Summer Olympics]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oly-gymn-jpn-day8-uchimura-comaneci-idUSBRE8730B420120804|title=Gymnsatics: Uchimura the GOAT? No says Comaneci|access-date=November 20, 2012|publisher=Reuters|first=Pritha|last=Sarkar|date=August 4, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Guardian/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/kohei-uchimura-wins-around-gold-proves-pretty-much-185139398--oly.html|title=Kohei Uchimura wins all-around gold, proves he's pretty much the best gymnast ever|access-date=November 20, 2012|publisher=[[Yahoo Sports]]|last1=Hendricks|first1=Maggie|date=August 1, 2012}}</ref> Uchimura is known for being the first gymnast (male or female) to capture every major all-around title in an entire single Olympic cycle, accomplishing this feat twice by securing six world (2009–2011 and 2013–2015)<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|title=London 2012: Kohei Uchimura can bring perfection back to gymnastics|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/13/london-2012-kohei-uchimura-gymnastics|access-date=July 13, 2012|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=July 13, 2012|author=Emma John}}</ref> and two Olympic ([[2012 Summer Olympics|2012 London Olympics]], and [[2016 Summer Olympics|2016 Rio Olympics]]) individual all-around titles. Uchimura also took the individual all-around silver medal at the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in [[Beijing]]. He is known for delivering difficult and accurately executed routines. The ''[[International Gymnast Magazine]]'' had praised his skills as a "combination of tremendous difficulty, supreme consistency and extraordinary elegance of performance."<ref name = IGMDec2010>{{cite journal|journal=International Gymnast Magazine |issue=December|year= 2010|title= Superman|author= Christian Ivanov|pages=52}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
Uchimura was born in [[Kitakyushu]], [[Fukuoka Prefecture]], and began gymnastics at age 3 at his parents' sports club in [[Nagasaki Prefecture]]. His parents, Kazuhisa and Shuko Uchimura, were both competitive gymnasts.<ref name=Guardian/><ref name = AM2012>[http://goldsea.com/Text/index.php?id=13331 Goldsea Asian American News] Kohei Uchimura seen as the most dominant athlete at London</ref> At age 15, he moved to [[Tokyo]] to train with [[Athens]] gold medalist [[Naoya Tsukahara]].<ref name=Guardian/><ref name =IGMDec2010/><ref name =KUTime>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080727092920/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1819129_1819134_1825939,00.html 100 Olympic Athletes To Watch, TIME] 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch, July 24, 2008</ref> His younger sister Haruhi Uchimura is also a gymnast.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Normile|first1=Dwight|title=From the IG Vault: The Kohei Uchimura Story|url=http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3009:from-the-ig-vault-kohei-uchimura&catid=90:2011-world-championships-news&Itemid=233|publisher=International Gymnast Magazine|access-date=October 31, 2015|date=October 14, 2011}}</ref> Kōhei Uchimura stated of his beliefs, "I don’t believe in God. I never had lucky charms. All I believe in is practice."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/09/03/language/imagine-a-better-olympics-for-japan/|title = Imagine a better Olympics for Japan|date = September 3, 2012}}</ref> In his first international event, the 2005 International Junior Competition in [[Japan]],<ref name = figKU>[http://fig.lx2.sportcentric.com/athletes/5857 International Gymnastics Federation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023210851/http://fig.lx2.sportcentric.com/athletes/5857 |date=October 23, 2011 }} Athletes Profiles: Kohei Uchimura</ref> he competed outside official competition.<ref name = FGJ>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051205031010/http://www.jpn-gym.or.jp/english/index.html Japan Gymnastics Association Results, 2005 International Junior Competition]. jpn-gym.or.jp</ref>

==Senior career==

===2007===
Uchimura joined the Japanese national squad in 2007,<ref name =figKU/> making his senior debut at the 2007 Paris World Cup in March, a major international competition. He took the bronze medal on vault, plus placed 9th on floor exercise here.<ref name =2007WCP>[http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/2007/parism.html Gymnastics Results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141105104544/http://gymnasticsresults.com/2007/parism.html |date=November 5, 2014 }} 16th Internationaux de France, Paris-Bercy 2007</ref> In August at the [[2007 Summer Universiade]] in [[Bangkok]], he won the team title,<ref name =2007WUG>[http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=180&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=223 International Gymnast] Japanese Men Take Universiade Team Title</ref> and individual gold and bronze on respective floor exercise and vault.<ref name =2007WUG2>[http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=182&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=223 International Gymnast] Ukraine Biggest Winner In Universiade Event Finals</ref> At [[All-Japan Gymnastics Championships|Japan's National Championships]] in October, he got 7th on individual all-around.<ref name =GRJN07>[http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/2007/jpnchampm.html#fx Gymnastics Results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928040746/http://gymnasticsresults.com/2007/jpnchampm.html#fx |date=September 28, 2013 }} 61st Japanese National Championships, Tokyo, October 2007</ref> A month later at the international "Good Luck Beijing" event, he won team silver with [[Japan]]'s team, and ranked 7th on floor exercise.<ref =name =GRGB>[http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/2007/beijingmq.html#aa Gymnastics Results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928041602/http://gymnasticsresults.com/2007/beijingmq.html#aa |date=September 28, 2013 }} Good Luck Beijing, Beijing 2007</ref>

===2008===
Uchimura started the 2008 season by winning gold on floor at the World Cup in [[Tianjin]] in May.<ref name =WCTianjin>[http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/2008/wcuptianjinm.html Gymnastics Results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928034509/http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/2008/wcuptianjinm.html |date=September 28, 2013 }} FIG 2008 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, Tianjin</ref>

Later that summer, he was selected to represent Japan at the [[2008 Olympic Games]] in [[Beijing]] as a member of the national team. At the Olympics, he contributed to the team silver by competing on floor, vault, parallel bars, and high bar.<ref name =UEGOG08>[http://www.ueg-gymnastics.com/commstore/commstore2.pl/fc880107fefd3614/en/statistics.html?k=236282&block_id=head,P3,content&P1=161&P2=51&P3=statistics&P4=6&P10=51&P9=236282 European Union of Artistic Gymnastics]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Statistics 29th Olympic Games Beijing 2008</ref> He qualified for the [[Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic individual all-around|all-around final]], where he won the silver medal. His 2nd place win behind China's [[Yang Wei (gymnast)|Yang Wei]] gave Japan its first Olympic medal in the event in 24 years.<ref name =JTO>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/so20080815g1.html The Japan Times Online] Uchimura earns silver in all-around</ref> He obtained the highest mark of that meet on the floor 15.825 (double Arabian piked half out, triple twist dismount) and had a spectacular high bar routine ([[Kolman (gymnastics)|Kolman]], piked Kovacs).<ref name = IGM08>International Gymnast Magazine, "Yang's Way" Christian Ivanov, page 30-31, October 2008</ref> He also qualified through to the floor final, where he placed fifth.<ref name = UEGOG08/>

At the [[All-Japan Gymnastics Championships|Japanese national championships]] that year, the 19-year-old Uchimura racked up the highest scores on floor exercise and pommel horse en route to winning his first national all around title. He was the first teenager in 12 years to win the Japanese men's national title.<ref>[http://intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=667:uchimura-wins-japanese-title&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=164 International Gymnast Magazine] Uchimura wins Japanese title, Ayako Murao, November 2008</ref>

===2009===
In October 2009, Uchimura competed at the [[2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2009 World Championships]]. Here, he dominated both the qualifications and the all around final. He won the all around title by a margin of 2.575 points ahead of [[Daniel Keatings]], marking top scores for [[Floor (gymnastics)|floor]], [[Rings (gymnastics)|rings]], [[Vault (gymnastics)|vault]], and [[Horizontal bar (gymnastics)|horizontal bar]].<ref name =UEGWC09>[http://www.ueg-gymnastics.com/commstore/commstore2.pl/0a5a395fbc31b90d/en/statistics.html?k=236318&block_id=head,P3,content&P1=161&P2=51&P3=statistics&P4=6&P10=51&P9=236318 European Union of Artistic Gymnastics]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 41stArtistic Gymnastics World Championships, London 2009</ref><ref name =IGMDec09>International Gymnast Magazine, "Untouchable", by Dwight Normile, page 36-38, December 2009</ref> Uchimura placed fourth on floor and sixth on high bar as well.<ref name = UEGWC09/>

He appeared on the cover of the December 2009 number of the International Gymnastics Magazine which was entitled "Uchimura rules".<ref name = IGMDec09/>

===2010===
[[File:Philipp Boy Kohei Uchimura Jonathan Horton.jpg|thumb|left|[[Philipp Boy]] (left), Uchimura (center) and [[Jonathan Horton]] (right) in 2010]]
In October 2010, Uchimura went to the [[2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2010 World Championships]] again as a member of [[Japan]]'s national team. As in 2009, he dominated the all-around prelims and finals, taking his second consecutive all-around title by a margin of 2.251 points ahead of [[Philipp Boy]]. In the all-around final, he had the top score of the day on floor, and highest execution mark (9.666) for a Yurchenko 2½ twists on vault.<ref name = IGMDec2010/> He contributed to Japan's team silver medal by competing in the team final on all events except [[Rings (gymnastics)|still rings]] too. He qualified for two event finals, winning silver on floor, and bronze on parallel bars.<ref name =UEGWC2010>[http://www.ueg-gymnastics.com/commstore/commstore2.pl/fe14de5f2f3ac0f6/en/statistics.html?k=236411&block_id=head,P3,content&P1=161&P2=51&P3=statistics&P4=6&P10=51&P9=236411 European Union of Gymnastics]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 42nd World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Rotterdam 2010</ref>

===2011===
[[File:Rick and Kohei Uchimura.jpg|thumb|Kōhei Uchimura (on the right) and Rick McCharles at the All Japan Gymnastics Championships 2011]]
On October 14, 2011, Uchimura won the all-around final for the third time at the [[2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2011 World Championships]] in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]]. With a score of 93.631 points, Uchimura won by a margin of 3.101 points, roughly the same margin that separated second and fourteenth place. Not only is he the first male gymnast to win three individual all-around titles, but Uchimura is also the first gymnast, male or female, to win three consecutive individual all-around titles.

In the all-around final, Uchimura recorded the highest score on four of the six events: floor exercise, still rings, parallel bars, and pommel horse (he tied for the highest score on pommel horse). Uchimura also qualified for five of the six individual apparatus finals, all except vault. He won his first World Championship gold medal on floor exercise, as well as a bronze medal on high bar and the silver medal with the Japanese team.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/gymnastics/15305797.stm | work=BBC News | title=GB's Purvis narrowly misses medal}}</ref>

At the [[2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2011 Worlds]], Uchimura also won the [[Longines Prize for Elegance]] along with Romania's [[Ana Porgras]]. The prize is given at each World Championships to the male and female gymnasts who demonstrate "the most remarkable elegance". The winners were unanimously declared by a panel of judges, where both Uchimura and Porgras were each awarded a trophy, a [[Longines]] watch, and US$5,000.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150208222816/http://www.longines.com/events/2011/43rd-Artistic-Gymnastics-World-Championships 43rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships (Tokyo, Japan)]. longines.com (October 7–16, 2011)</ref> He was especially pleased to win this award since he collects watches.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/sports/other_sports/articles/2011/10/14/uchimura_runs_away_with_3rd_world_gym_title_in_row/ |url-status=live |work=The Boston Globe |first=Nancy |last=Armour |title=Uchimura runs away with 3rd world gym title in row |date=October 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606231008/http://articles.boston.com/2011-10-14/sports/30279934_1_kohei-uchimura-gymnastics-danell-leyva/2 |archive-date=June 6, 2012 }}</ref>

In November 2011, Uchimura won four gold medals at the 65th [[All-Japan Gymnastics Championships|Japanese Championships]]. Besides all-around, he also took titles on half the apparatuses: floor exercise, pommel horse, and high bar.<ref>[http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3039:uchimura-unstoppable-at-japanese-championships&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=164 International Gymnast Magazine Online – Uchimura Unstoppable at Japanese Championships]. Intlgymnast.com (November 7, 2011). Retrieved on 2016-08-11.</ref>

===2012===
Uchimura competed in the [[2012 Summer Olympics|London 2012 Olympics]] in [[London]] and fell several times in qualifications, which put him in ninth place among the group of qualifiers for the individual all-around final. In the men's team gymnastics final, Uchimura fell from the pommel horse during his dismount. The Japanese coaches appealed the scoring on this performance as he still landed on his feet and felt it should have counted as a full dismount, albeit with a large penalty. Before the appeal, [[Great Britain]] were to get the silver and [[Ukraine]] the bronze, but the appeal pushed [[Japan]]'s points total up to secure the silver behind [[China]], which pushed [[Great Britain]] down to the bronze.

In the men's individual all-around final, Uchimura dominated the competition and won the gold medal with a score of 92.690.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kohei Uchimura wins all-around|url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/summer/2012/gymnastics/story/_/id/8222829/2012-london-olympics-kohei-uchimura-wins-men-all-gold-medal|access-date=October 31, 2015|publisher=[[ESPN]]}}</ref> He also won the silver medal in the men's floor exercise event final with a score of 15.800, thanks to the tie-breaking procedure. It was automatically triggered due to his second highest combined score in the final tying the one by [[Denis Ablyazin]] of [[Russia]], who did have the highest difficulty score of 7.1 among all finalists due to more passes. Unfortunately when there is a tie, the gymnast instead with the higher execution score will place ahead, which was Uchimura who posted the highest execution of 9.100 in the final.

===2013===
During qualifications Uchimura dominated, garnering an all-around total of 91.924, which was 2.392 points ahead of the closest competitor. He qualified for the floor exercise finals in third place with a 15.333, first for the parallel bars final with 15.400, and third for the high bar final with a 15.658. He qualified as a reserve for the pommel horse final with a 15.133.

Uchimura won a record fourth consecutive all-around gold medal at the [[2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]] in [[Antwerp]]. Uchimura finished with 91.990 points, almost two points ahead of the next nearest competitor.<ref>{{cite news|title=World Gymnastics: Japan's Kohei Uchimura wins fourth world title|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/gymnastics/24391330|access-date=October 31, 2015|publisher=[[BBC Sport]]}}</ref> Uchimura also won bronze medals on floor exercise (15.500) behind [[Japan]]'s 17-year-old newcomer [[Kenzō Shirai]] (16.000) and [[Jacob Dalton]] of the United States (15.600), and the horizontal bar (15.633) behind [[Epke Zonderland]] of the [[Netherlands]] (16.000) and [[Fabian Hambüchen]] of [[Germany]] (15.933), as well as a gold medal for parallel bars (15.666). His total of four individual medals is the highest number of medals Uchimura has earned at a single World Championships.

===2014===
On October 9, 2014, Uchimura once again made history, winning a record fifth consecutive world championship all-around gold at [[2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|Nanning]]. He totaled 91.965 points, 1.492 points above Great Britain's [[Max Whitlock]] to capture the title.<ref>Johnson, Raphielle. (October 9, 2014) [http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/09/kohei-uchimura-wins-world-championship-all-around-gymnastics-olympics-sam-mikulak/ Kohei Uchimura, greatest ever after 5th World Championship? – OlympicTalk]. Olympictalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved on 2016-08-11.</ref>

Uchimura also secured the silver on the horizontal bar apparatus after he posted scores that sandwiched them between those by [[Epke Zonderland]] (Netherlands), who won the gold, and [[Marijo Možnik]] (Croatia), who took the bronze.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/R9XUGR-VlTg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20141013014319/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9XUGR-VlTg Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9XUGR-VlTg&t=11849s| title = FULL REPLAY - 2014 Artistic Worlds, Nanning (CHN) - Apparatus Finals - Day2 | website=[[YouTube]]| date = October 12, 2014 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===2015===
On October 30, 2015, Uchimura won a record sixth all-around world gymnastics championship title, achieving a total score of 92.332, more than 1.6 points ahead of Cuban teenager [[Manrique Larduet]] and [[Deng Shudi]] of [[China]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Zaccardi|first1=Nick|title=Kohei Uchimura rolls to sixth straight World all-around title over surprise runner-up|url=http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2015/10/30/kohei-uchimura-wins-gymnastics-world-championships-all-around-manrique-larduet/|access-date=October 31, 2015|publisher=NBC Sports|date=October 30, 2015}}</ref>

Uchimura started off on the floor with a 15.733, and led Deng by 0.600 after the first rotation. Then on pommel horse, he scored a 15.100. He would continued with a 14.933 on rings, 15.633 on vault, and 15.833 on parallel bars before wrapping things up with a 15.100 on the horizontal bar,<ref>{{cite web|title=Artistic – Men's Individual All-Around Final|url=http://www.2015worldgymnastics.com/the-championships/results/results.aspx?g=m&evt=AA&rnd=fin|publisher=2015 World Gymnastic Championships|access-date=October 31, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812201925/http://www.2015worldgymnastics.com/the-championships/results/results.aspx?g=m&evt=AA&rnd=fin|archive-date=August 12, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> one of his best apparatuses, on which he had also taken a fall, just a few days before in the team competition.

Uchimura would then go on to win the horizontal bar apparatus final as well with a score of 15.833 ahead of [[Danell Leyva]] (United States) and [[Manrique Larduet|Larduet]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/5lE58De1Ilk Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160220202216/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lE58De1Ilk&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lE58De1Ilk| title = 2015 Artistic Worlds - Men's Apparatus Final Day 2, Highlights - We are Gymnastics ! | website=[[YouTube]]| date = February 18, 2016 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

However, what was even more significant was that Uchimura led [[Japan]] to victory in the team event final where they defeated [[Great Britain]] and [[China]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/lqxmTxsc0b0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200304210619/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqxmTxsc0b0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqxmTxsc0b0| title = FULL REPLAY: Men's Team Final - Glasgow 2015 Artistic Worlds - We are Gymnastics ! | website=[[YouTube]]| date = October 28, 2015 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> This was their first team gold since the 1978 World Championships in [[Strasbourg]].<ref>[[1978 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2020}}<ref>[[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships – Men's team all-around]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2020}}

===2016===
[[File:Kōhei Uchimura Rio 2016b.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Uchimura at the 2016 Rio Olympics]]
Uchimura competed in the [[2016 Summer Olympics]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]]. In the men's team all-around final, team captain Uchimura anchored the Japanese men to win the team gold medal with a total score of 274.094, reclaiming the title for [[Japan]] and the first time since the [[2004 Summer Olympics]] in [[Athens]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fincher|first1=Julia|title=Kohei Uchimura and Japanese men claim gold in gymnastics team final|url=http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/kohei-uchimura-and-japanese-men-claim-gold-gymnastics-team-final|access-date=August 9, 2016|publisher=NBC Olympics|date=August 8, 2016|archive-date=August 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809121752/http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/kohei-uchimura-and-japanese-men-claim-gold-gymnastics-team-final|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Two days after the final of team event, Uchimura defended his individual all-around (AA) gold medal with a total score of 92.365, becoming the first gymnast in 44 years to win back-to-back individual all-around (IAA) golds at the Olympics.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fincher|first1=Julia|title="King Kohei" Uchimura wins second consecutive all-around title|url=http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/long-may-he-reign-king-kohei-uchimura-wins-second-consecutive-all-around-title|access-date=August 11, 2016|publisher=NBC Olympics|date=August 10, 2016|archive-date=September 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918013731/http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/long-may-he-reign-king-kohei-uchimura-wins-second-consecutive-all-around-title|url-status=dead}}</ref> With his individual all-around silver medal from the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in [[Beijing]], he also became only the second man in history after countryman [[Sawao Kato]], who also won two golds and one silver in the individual all-around competition across the [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City]], [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich]] and [[1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Montreal Olympics]], to medal on the men's individual all-around event at three Olympic Games. His winning margin over silver medallist [[Oleg Verniaiev]] of [[Ukraine]] was extremely slim at only 0.099, less than a small step deduction on landing in terms of gymnastics scoring.

===2017===
At the [[2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]] in [[Montreal]], his world all-around champion streak that began in 2009 came to an end when he injured his ankle on the vault landing in qualification, forcing him to withdraw.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2017/10/02/kohei-uchimura-injury-gymnastics-world-championships/|title=Kohei Uchimura pulls out of world all-around, record streak ends|last=Zaccardi|first=Nick|date=2017-10-03|website=OlympicTalk|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref>

This led to his long win-streak at worlds and Olympics being unexpectedly broken for the only time since he started winning the first of his six World Championships all-around title to begin the 2009 quad, and continue over the next two complete Olympic cycles (approximately 8 years), ending them by winning his second Olympic all-around title in 2016. This was also the first time in 9 years since before 2008 that he did not medal, namely silver and/or gold medals, at one of the [[International Gymnastics Federation|FIG]]'s major competitions—the Olympics or World Championships.

===2018–2019===
Between October 25 and November 3, 2018, Uchimura competed at the [[2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]] in [[Doha]] but on a reduced schedule. During the team event final, he had helped [[Team Japan]] secure the bronze medal behind team event champion [[China]] and runner-up [[Russia]] by contributing scores to four apparatuses—pommel horse (14.133), rings (14.200), parallel bars (14.500) and high bar (14.400). Uchimura also qualified for the individual event final on the horizontal bar, winning the silver with a score of 14.800 behind the 2012 Olympic high bar champion, [[Epke Zonderland]] of the [[Netherlands]], who scored a 15.100.

Uchimura did not compete in any significant competitions during the 2019 season due to injuries.

===2020–2021===
At the age of 32, Uchimura qualified for the [[2020 Summer Olympics]] in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], his fourth and home Olympic Games, as an apparatus specialist on the horizontal bar after a tiebreak in the selection process worked in his favour. He has expressed earlier that he could still contribute positively to the Japanese team but perhaps not with the kind of gruelling physical requirements that are necessary for an all-arounder anymore.

At the Olympics, Uchimura did not qualify for the high bar finals after placing 20th due to mistake in the qualifying round, and decided to skip the parallel bars event.<ref>[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/07/24/olympics/summer-olympics/olympic-gymnastics/kohei-uchimura-out-tokyo-olympics/ Japan's Kohei Uchimura out of Olympics after horizontal bars flop]. ''Japan Times''. July 24, 2021.</ref> The eventual gold medalist in the individual all-around and horizontal bar finals was countryman [[Daiki Hashimoto]] (most successful gymnast at these Games and also considered to be Uchimura's heir apparent), who at 19 years, 11 months and 21 days old became [[Japan]]'s second youngest teen gold medal gymnast (lost by only six days to [[Kenzō Shirai]] at the [[2016 Summer Olympics|2016 Summer Games]]), as well as their youngest ever individual gold medal gymnast in Olympic history on the individual all-around (AA) and high bar events.

On October 18–24, 2021, competing at home in [[Kitakyushu]], [[Japan]], Uchimura, oldest at 32 years, 9 months and 21 days old, was selected as part of the Japanese world championship team in [[artistic gymnastics]] ([[artistic gymnastics|AG]]) as an apparatus specialist to compete only on the individual horizontal bar event. He qualified in fifth place with a score of 14.300 for the event final where he finished in sixth place with a score of 14.600. This was long intended to be his final competition, concluding an illustrious career, which many would consider him the best of all time. His apparent successor, the men's 2020 Olympics individual all-around and horizontal bar champion, [[Daiki Hashimoto|Hashimoto]], was the top individual horizontal bar qualifier with a score of 14.633. For the same two individual events, he earned himself two silver medals in the individual all-around and horizontal bar finals instead with scores of 87.964 and 14.600. [[Hu Xuwei]] and [[Zhang Boheng]], both of [[China]], respectively won the men's individual all-around and horizontal bar events with scores of 87.981 and 15.166. Lastly, [[Daiki Hashimoto|Hashimoto]] placed fourth in the men's individual parallel bars finals with a score of 15.000, but also withdrew from the men's individual pommel horse and floor exercise finals, for which he qualified too.

==Retirement==
On January 10, 2022, Uchimura officially announced his retirement from competitive gymnastics,<ref name=retirement /> having been plagued by various persistent injuries since his rare withdrawal from the [[2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2017 World Championships]] following an ankle injury sustained during the qualification round of the men's individual all-around competition. Although Uchimura retired with no eponymous skills, he always maintained that this was never a primary aim of his long career. Uchimura is considered by many to have retired as the greatest male gymnast of all time.

==Competitive history==

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;"
|-
! rowspan="2" class=unsortable|Year
! rowspan="2" width=37% class=unsortable|Competition
! rowspan="2" class=unsortable|Team
! colspan="7" width=49% class=unsortable|Individual Events
|-
! class=unsortable|AA
! class=unsortable|[[Gymnastics floor|FX]]
! class=unsortable|[[Pommel horse|PH]]
! class=unsortable|[[Gymnastics rings|SR]]
! class=unsortable|[[Gymnastics vault|VT]]
! class=unsortable|[[Gymnastics parallel bars|PB]]
! class=unsortable|[[Horizontal bar|HB]]
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''2007'''|| align=left|Paris World Cup || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || ''9'' || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || style="background:#FFDAB9;" rowspan="2"|{{bronze3}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}}
|-
| align=left|[[2007 Summer Universiade|Summer Universiade]] || style="background:#F7F6A8"|{{gold1}} || {{N/A}} || style="background:#F7F6A8"|{{gold1}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}}
|-
| rowspan="3" align=center|'''2008'''
|-bgcolor=98FB98
|align=left |'''[[Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]''' || style="background:#DCE5E5" colspan="2"|{{silver2}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} ||  {{N/A}} ||  {{N/A}} ||  {{N/A}} ||  {{N/A}}
|-bgcolor=#FAEBD7
| align=left|[[2008 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final|World Cup Final]] || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || style="background:#DCE5E5"|{{silver2}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}}
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''2009''' 
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || {{N/A}} || style="background:#F7F6A8" rowspan="16"|{{gold1}} || '''4''' || ''13'' || ''12'' || {{N/A}} || ''12'' || '''6'''
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''2010'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || style="background:#DCE5E5" rowspan="5"|{{silver2}} || style="background:#DCE5E5"|{{silver2}} || ''12'' || '''8''' || {{N/A}} || style="background:#FFDAB9;"|{{bronze3}} || ''14''
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''2011'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || style="background:#F7F6A8"|{{gold1}} || '''5''' || '''6''' || {{N/A}} || '''4''' || style="background:#FFDAB9;"|{{bronze3}}
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''2012'''
|-bgcolor=98FB98
| align=left|'''[[Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]''' || style="background:#DCE5E5"|{{silver2}} || ''60'' || ''19'' || {{N/A}} || '''''5''''' || ''16''
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''2013'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || {{N/A}} || style="background:#FFDAB9;"|{{bronze3}} || ''10'' || rowspan="3"|''17'' || {{N/A}} || style="background:#F7F6A8"|{{gold1}} || style="background:#FFDAB9;"|{{bronze3}}
|-
|rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2014 in artistic gymnastics|2014]]'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || style="background:#DCE5E5"|{{silver2}} || '''5''' || ''12'' || {{N/A}} || ''15'' || style="background:#DCE5E5"|{{silver2}}
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2015 in artistic gymnastics|2015]]'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || rowspan="3" style="background:#F7F6A8"|{{gold1}} || ''64'' || ''9'' || ''21'' || {{N/A}} || ''10'' || style="background:#F7F6A8"|{{gold1}}
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2016 in artistic gymnastics|2016]]'''
|-bgcolor=98FB98
| align=left|'''[[Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]''' || '''5''' || ''14'' || ''20'' || {{N/A}} || ''10'' || ''37''
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2017 in artistic gymnastics|2017]]'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || {{N/A}} || wd<sup>'''2'''</sup> ||   {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || ''32'' || {{N/A}} || ''30'' || {{N/A}}
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2018 in artistic gymnastics|2018]]'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || style="background:#FFDAB9;"|{{bronze3}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || ''21'' || ''28'' || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || style="background:#DCE5E5"|{{silver2}}
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2019 in artistic gymnastics|2019]]'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || colspan="8"|Did not qualify due to injury
|-
|rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2020 in artistic gymnastics|2020]]'''
|-bgcolor=98FB98
|align=left|'''[[Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]''' || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || align=center|wd<sup>'''1'''</sup> || ''20''
|-
| rowspan="2" align=center|'''[[2021 in artistic gymnastics|2021]]'''
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left|[[2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}} || '''6'''
|-
|}
{{small|<sup>'''1'''</sup>Uchimura qualified to compete in the opening rounds of the individual parallel bars event, but withdrew to focus on high bar.}}<br />
{{small|<sup>'''2'''</sup>Uchimura was injured and withdrew during qualifications of the men's individual AA competition after awkward vault landing.}}

==Personal life==
Uchimura married his wife Chiho in the autumn of 2012. They have two daughters, born in 2013 and 2015. Asked if he would teach them gymnastics he replied, "If they were boys I think I probably would... but I don't understand women's gymnastics and I think it's much more severe."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607220018.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723170841/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607220018.html|archive-date=2016-07-23|title=For Uchimura, it's all about the performance|work=The Asahi Shimbun |publisher=Reuters via Asahi Shinbun|date=July 22, 2016}}</ref> He eats just one meal a day<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKXOBxcNF3E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/JKXOBxcNF3E |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Kohei Uchimuras Secret - One meal a day - English subtitles|publisher=YouTube|year=2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and rather dislikes vegetables.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/07/31/japan-kohei-uchimura-gymnastics|title=Uchimura's run of gold has most competitors quite green with envy|publisher=si.com|access-date=2019-11-09|date=2012-07-31}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games]]
* [[List of multiple Olympic medalists]]
* [[List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite news |work=New York Times |title=The Near Perfection of Kohei Uchimura |author=Lisa Katayama |date=July 20, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/sports/olympics/the-near-perfection-of-kohei-uchimura.html?_r=1&hpw}}
* {{FIG|bio=22581|lic=5857|name=Kohei Uchimura}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com|kohei-uchimura}}

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{{International Gymnastics Hall of Fame members}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchimura, Kohei}}
[[Category:1989 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Japanese atheists]]
[[Category:Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]]
[[Category:Japanese male artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Olympic gymnasts for Japan]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Japan]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Japan]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in gymnastics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Kitakyushu]]
[[Category:Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for Japan]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Japan]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics]]