Kohei Uchimura once said, “I don’t think my natural talent is much different from other gymnasts. It is a matter of how I train and how I think about my training. I also give a lot of thought to my routines.”
He is an artistic gymnast from Japan. He has won several medals at the Olympics and Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
Similarly, Uchimura is considered to be one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. He is the Japanese national pride.
However, Tokyo 2020 did not go well for him because of injuries and age. He failed to qualify for horizontal bar finals.
Uchimura won two gold medals in 2016 Rio de Janeiro for men’s artistic gymnastics team all-around and men’s artistic individual all-around.
Likewise, he won a gold medal for individual all-around and two silver medals for team all-around and floor exercise at 2012 London.
Uchimura also won two gold medals at 2008 Beijing for team all-around and individual all-around.
He also won a silver medal at the 2008 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Finals for floor exercise.
Also, he won two gold medals for team all-around and floor exercise and a bronze medal for vault at the 2007 Summer Universiade.
In fact, Uchimura is the first gymnast to have won titles in every major all-around competition in a single Olympic cycle.
Furthermore, he is called ‘King Kohei’ and acknowledged as an athlete with tremendous talent, topnotch consistency, and smooth performance.
Today, we will be dealing with Kohei Uchimura’s biography without missing anything significant that has ever happened in his personal and professional life.
So make sure to read it to the end!
Quick Facts about Kohei Uchimura
Full name | Kohei Uchimura |
Japanese | 内村 航平 |
Nickname | King Kohei, Super mura, Superman |
Birthdate | January 3, 1989 |
Birthplace | Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Japan |
Hometown | Isahaya, Nagasaki, Japan |
Nationality | Japanese |
Horoscope | Capricorn |
Age | 35 years old |
Father’s name | Kazuhisa Uchimura |
Mother’s name | Shuko Uchimura |
Sibling | A sister |
Sister’s Name | Haruhi Uchimura |
Marital status | Unmarried |
Height | 5 feet 4 inches (162 cm) |
Weight | 52 kg (115 lbs) |
Body type | Athletic |
Eye Color | Dark Brown |
Hair Color | Dark Brown |
Profession | Gymnast |
Discipline | Men’s Artistic Gymnastics |
Club | Ringer hut |
National Team | Japanese |
Participation in Olympics |
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Medals and Achievements at Olympics |
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Participation in World Championships |
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Medals and Achievements in World Championships | Men’s individual all-around
Men’s team all-around
Parallel Bars
Horizontal Bars
Floor Exercise
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Marital Status | Married |
Children | Two Daughters: Chia Uchimura & Toa Uchimura |
Net worth | $2.5 Million |
Merch | Poster Print, Tokyo Olympics 2021 |
Social media Handles | Facebook, Instagram |
Kohei Uchimura – Early Life and Family
Kohei Uchimura, the brilliant gymnast was born on January 3, 1989, in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Japan. He was born to proud parents Kazuhisa Uchimura and Shuko Uchimura.
Similarly, he has a younger sister named Haruhi Uchimura.
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The Family Influence
Kohei Uchimura comes from a family of gymnasts. His parents were both gymnasts in the 1970s and 1980s. He started training in the gym alongside his parents since was three years old.
In fact, his mother, Shuko, competed in the master’s category at the age of 52 in 2020.
Similarly, his younger sister, Haruhi, is also a competitive gymnast. Gymnastics indeed runs in the Uchimaru blood.
Uchimaru transitioned to Tokyo at the age of 15 so that he could train under his idol Naoya Tsukahara. Furthermore, he believes solely in hard work and does not support the idea of ‘lucky charm.’
The family was very supportive of Kohei’s career. Moreover, they are/were themselves into gymnastics, making things way lot smooth for Kohei.
Kohei Uchimura – Career in Gymnastics
Uchimaru first became part of Japan’s national team in 2007, debuting as a senior at the 2007 Paris World Cup. He succeeded in grabbing a bronze medal in the vault. Similarly, he was placed ninth on floor exercise.
He then participated in the 2007 Summer Universiade and won three medals.
He won gold medals for the men’s artistic gymnastics team all-around and floor exercise and a bronze medal on vault.
In fact, Uchimaru did not stop and continued grabbing medals from everywhere he went. He then won a silver medal at the “Good Luck Beijing’ event in 2007.
Similarly, he won a gold medal on floor exercise at the 2008 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final.
Olympics
Uchimaru has participated in Olympics four times. In fact, he has made Japan and the Japanese people proud with his presence at the Olympics.
Moreover, as of now, Kohei is also regarded as one of the best male gymnasts to perform at a horizontal bar ever!
2008 Beijing
Uchimura was a member of the Japanese National Team at the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing.
Furthermore, he won two silver medals for the men’s artistic team all-around and men’s individual all-around.
2012 London
The Japanese gymnasts grabbed three medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London.
Also, he won a gold medal for men’s individual all-around and then grabbed two silver medals for men’s artistic gymnastics team all-around and floor exercise.
2016 Rio de Janeiro
Similarly, Uchimura was part of the very competitive Japanese national team that competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio.
Watch his impressive feat at the Rio Olympics 2016 >>
In fact, he succeeded in winning two gold medals for the men’s artistic team all-around and men’s individual all-around.
2020 Tokyo: Not Qualified
Uchimaru decided to make the transition to horizontal bars only because of his injuries.
Similarly, it was hard for a champion like him, but when his deceased coach came in his dreams and advised him to go for horizontal bars only, Uchimaru opted for it.
In fact, his shoulder pain miraculously disappeared. Kohei was still hoping to be able to grab medals for Japan at Olympics 2020.
Uchimura, at the age of 32, was pumped up with motivation and willpower. However, he failed to qualify for horizontal bar finals. He fell on a complex pirouetting substance.
Furthermore, Kohei scored 13.866 points which did not place him in the list of top 8 gymnasts who competed were taken forward.
After winning two gold medals in 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Uchimaru has been facing many injuries.
Moreover, he suffered from an ankle injury at the qualification round of the 2017 World Champions, which no longer allowed him to maintain his reign as an all-around champion.
Nonetheless, Uchimaru said that he did not feel as disappointed as he had expected.
Artistic Gymnastics World Championships
Uchimaru has won a lot of medals at World Championships. In fact, he won six straight world titles for artistic gymnastics men’s all around.
2009 London
The Olympian won a gold medal at the 2009 World Championships held in London for men’s artistic gymnastics all-around.
2010 Rotterdam
Uchimura grabbed four medals at the 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships held in Rotterdam.
He also won a gold medal for men’s artistic gymnastics all-around and two silver medals for floor exercise, and a men’s artistic team all-around.
Similarly, he won a bronze medal for parallel bars.
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2011 Tokyo
Uchimura then won four medals at the 2011 World Championships held in Tokyo. He grabbed a gold medal for men’s artistic gymnastics all-around.
He won two silver medals for floor exercise and men’s artistic gymnastics team all-around. Likewise, he won a bronze medal for the horizontal bar.
2013 Antwerp
Kohei won four medals at the 2013 World Championships held in Antwerp as well. Also, this time he grabbed two gold medals for parallel bars and men’s individual all-around.
Similarly, he won two bronze medals for floor exercise and horizontal bars.
2014 Nanning
He won a gold medal for men’s individual all-around at the 2014 World Championships held in Nanning.
Likewise, he won two silver medals for horizontal bars and men’s artistic gymnastics team all-around.
2015 Glasgow
Kohei won three gold medals at the 2015 World Championships held in Glasgow.
Likewise, he won them for men’s artistic gymnastic individual all-around, men’s team all-around, and horizontal bars.
2018 Doha
Uchimura won a silver medal at the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships held in Doha. He won it for the men’s artistic gymnastics team all-around.
However, he suffered an injury in the 2017 World Gymnastics Championship qualification round that reduced his performance thereafter.
World Cup Final
Uchimura won a silver medal for floor exercise at Tianjin’s 2008 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final.
Summer Universiade
He also won three medals at the 2008 Summer Universiade held in Bangkok. He grabbed two gold medals for the floor exercise and men’s artistic team all-around.
Similarly, he won a bronze medal for the vault.
Kohei Uchimura – Wife and Children
Kohei Uchimura is married to Chiho Uchimura. The couple tied the knot in the autumn of 2012.
Moreover, they have two beautiful daughters: Chia Uchimura and Toa Uchimura.
Kohei is a talented gymnast, but he is reluctant if he wants his daughters to get into gymnastics or not. He believes that it is much more severe for females.
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Kohei Uchimura – Diet
Uchimura’s diet is quite interesting. He only eats one meal a day.
Likewise, he eats real meals once a day in the evening once he completes then rigorous training and exercise for the day.
Uchimura drinks coffee and water throughout the day. He sometimes goes for protein shakes or protein drinks if he feels the necessity.
Also, he developed this habit not to say light and fit but her his overall well-being.
Moreover, he believes that his body needs intense gymnastics to perform, which involves spins, tumbles, and somersaults.
It is not easily achievable when one’s stomach is full. Uchimura even has gotten unwell while training with something churning around on his stomach.
Therefore, he decided to keep his stomach empty until he is ready to give his body the required rest after a heavy meal.
Furthermore, Uchimura is not fond of vegetables and rarely eats them.
Kohei Uchimura – Net Worth
Being one of the acclaimed athletes in Japan, Kohei is the favorite of many brands. Similarly, Uchimura is regarded to be one of the richest gymnasts.
Hence, his net worth is estimated to be around $2.5 Million.
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Kohei Uchimura – Social Media Presence
You can follow him via these links:
Instagram: 54.5k Followers
Facebook: 8.7k Followers
Common Queries about Kohei Uchimura
Is Kohei Uchimura in the 2020 Summer Olympics?
Kohei Uchimura tried for horizontal bars in the 2020 Tokyo. However, he could not qualify for the finals.
What does ‘Kohei’ means?
Kohei is a Japanese word that means ‘navigation’ in English.