Kohei Uchimura Bio: Olympics, Gymnastics & Family

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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.

kohei-uchimura
Kohei Uchimura

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
  • 2008 Beijing
  • 2012 London
  • 2016 Rio de Janeiro
  • 2020 Tokyo
Medals and Achievements at Olympics
  • Silver Medalist at 2008 Beijing for men’s artistic team all-around
  • Silver Medalist at 2008 Beijing for men’s individual all-around
  • Gold medalist at 2012 London for men’s individual all-around
  • Silver medalist at 2012 London for men’s artistic team all-around
  • Silver Medalist at 2012 London for floor exercise
  • Gold Medalist at 2016 Rio de Janeiro for men’s artistic team all-around
  • Gold Medalist at 2016 Rio de Janeiro for men’s individual all-around
Participation in World Championships
  • 2009 London
  • 2010 Rotterdam
  • 2011 Tokyo
  • 2013 Antwerp
  • 2014 Nanning
  • 2015 Glasgow
  • 2018 Doha
Medals and Achievements in World Championships Men’s individual all-around

  • 2009 London (gold)
  • 2010 Rotterdam (gold)
  • 2011 Tokyo (gold)
  • 2013 Antwerp (gold)
  • 2014 Nanning (gold)
  • 2015 Glasgow (gold)

Men’s team all-around

  • 2010 Rotterdam (silver)
  • 2011 Tokyo (silver)
  • 2014 Nanning (silver)
  • 2015 Glasgow (gold)
  • 2018 Doha (Bronze)

Parallel Bars

  • 2010 Rotterdam (bronze)
  • 2013 Antwerp (gold)

Horizontal Bars

  • 2011 Tokyo (bronze)
  • 2013 Antwerp (bronze)
  • 2014 Nanning (silver)
  • 2015 Glasgow (gold)
  • 2018 Doha (silver)

Floor Exercise

  • 2010 Rotterdam (silver)
  • 2011 Tokyo (gold)
  • 2013 Antwerp (bronze)
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.

kohei-uchimura performing gymnastics.
Uchimura, performing gymnastics.

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.

You might want to read: Nadia Comaneci Bio: Early Life, Gymnast, Son & Net Worth >>

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.

12 Best Gymnasts In The World Right Now!

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.

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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