Makoto Sasamoto

Makoto Sasamoto (笹本 睦, Sasamoto Makoto, born January 21, 1977 in Sagamihara, Kanagawa) is an amateur Japanese Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's lightweight category.[1] He is a three-time Olympian, a two-time Asian Games medalist (2002 in Busan, South Korea and 2006 in Doha, Qatar), and a bronze medalist at the 2005 Asian Wrestling Championships in Wuhan, China.[2] He also won a silver medal for his division at the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, losing out to Georgia's David Bedinadze.[3] Sasamoto is a member of the wrestling team for Sogokeibi Sports Club in Tokyo, and is coached and trained by Hideo Fujimoto.

Makoto Sasamoto
Personal information
Full nameMakoto Sasamoto
Nationality Japan
Born (1977-01-21) 21 January 1977
Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleGreco-Roman
ClubSogokeibi Sports Club
CoachHideo Fujimoto
Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing  Japan
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2006 Doha60 kg
Bronze medal – third place2002 Busan60 kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2007 Baku60 kg
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place2005 Wuhan60 kg

Sasamoto made his official debut for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he placed second in the four-man prelim pool of the men's 58 kg class, against Bulgarian wrestler and two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazaryan, Turkmenistan's Nepes Gukulov, and Australia's Brett Cash.[4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Sasamoto switched to a heavier class by competing in the 60 kg class. He reached the knock-out stage of the competition, by winning the preliminary pool round against Peru's Sidney Guzman, and Serbia and Montenegro's Davor Štefanek. He lost a controversial ruling to Nazaryan in the quarterfinal match, with a score of 3–5, but bounced back to clinch the fifth spot in a consolation playoff against Kazakhstan's Nurlan Koizhaiganov with a comfortable 4–0 decision.[5][6]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Sasamoto defeated Armenia's Karen Mnatsakanyan in the qualifying rounds of the men's 60 kg class, before losing out his next match for the third consecutive time to Nazaryan, with a three-set technical score (4–0, 0–2, 0–2), and a classification point score of 1–3.[7]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Makoto Sasamoto". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  2. "Iranian wreslters fail to prove their dominace in Asiad". Xinhua News Agency. People's Daily Online (China). 11 December 2006. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  3. "Sasamoto earns silver at worlds". Japan Times Online. 19 September 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  4. "Sydney 2000: Wrestling – Bantamweight Greco-Roman (58kg)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 99–100. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  5. "Wrestling: Men's Greco-Roman 60kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  6. "Teary-eyed Sasamoto to protest wrestling loss". Japan Times Online. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  7. "Men's Greco-Roman 60kg (132 lbs) Round of 16 Final Official". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
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