Yukako Kawai

Yukako Kawai (川井 友香子, Kawai Yukako, born 27 August 1997) is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. She won the gold medal in the women's 62 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.[1]

Yukako Kawai
Yukako Kawai at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Born (1997-08-27) 27 August 1997
Tsubata, Ishikawa Prefecture
Height162 cm (5.31 ft; 64 in)
Sport
CountryJapan
SportAmateur wrestling
Weight class62 kg
Event(s)Freestyle
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 62 kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Budapest 62 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Nur-Sultan 62 kg
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2020 New Delhi 62 kg
Silver medal – second place 2019 Xi'an 62 kg
World U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Bucharest 62 kg

In 2018, she won the silver medal in the women's 62 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.[2][3] A year later, she won one of the bronze medals in this event.[4][5][6]

Career

In 2017, she competed in the women's 63 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships in Paris, France without winning a medal.[7] She won her first match against Elmira Gambarova but she was eliminated from the competition in her next match against Jackeline Rentería of Colombia. Rentería went on to win one of the bronze medals.

She won the gold medal in the women's 62 kg event at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships held in New Delhi, India.[8][9] In the final, she defeated Ayaulym Kassymova of Kazakhstan.[8][9]

In 2021, Kawai won the gold medal in the 62 kg wrestling division at the Tokyo Olympics. Her older sister Risako won gold in the 57 kg division the following day.[10]

Achievements
Year Tournament Location Result Event
2018 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd Freestyle 62 kg
2019 Asian Championships Xi'an, China 2nd Freestyle 62 kg
World Championships Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan 3rd Freestyle 62 kg
2020 Asian Championships New Delhi, India 1st Freestyle 62 kg
2021 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan 1st Freestyle 62 kg

References
  1. Pavitt, Michael (4 August 2021). "Kawai succeeds sister as Olympic champion with women's 62kg wrestling triumph". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  2. "2018 World Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. Diamond, James (25 October 2018). "Japan win two golds and a silver on final day of women's action as Hungary claim first medal at World Wrestling Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  4. Rowbottom, Mike (20 September 2019). "Tynybekova earns first-ever world wrestling gold for Kyrgyzstan". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  5. "2019 World Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  6. "Yukako Kawai earns family's second medal at 2019 world championships". The Japan Times. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  7. "2017 World Wrestling Championships" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  8. Pavitt, Michael (21 February 2020). "Kazakhstan and Japan share final women's titles at Asian Wrestling Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  9. "2020 Asian Wrestling Championships" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  10. Landers, Serena (August 5, 2021), "Wrestling: Risako Kawai Follows Sister Yukako in Winning Gold", Japan Forward
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