Sakura Kokumai

Last updated

Sakura Kokumai
Personal information
Born (1992-10-02) October 2, 1992 (age 31)
Honolulu, Hawaii, US
Education Doshisha University [1]
Alma mater Waseda University
Height5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
Sport
CountryUnited States
Sport Shitō-ryū Karate
Rank4th Degree Black Belt [1]
Event Individual kata
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking5th
Medal record
Women's karate
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Lima Individual kata
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Santiago Individual kata
World Karate Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2012 Paris Individual kata
World Combat Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2013 Saint Petersburg Individual kata

Sakura Kokumai (born October 2, 1992) is an American karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru and the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. She represented the United States in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. [2] [3]

Contents

Career

In 2012, Kokumai won a bronze medal in the individual kata event at the World Karate Championships held in Paris, France. [4] The following year, she won the bronze medal in the women's kata event at the 2013 World Combat Games held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. [5] In 2014, Kokumai won the gold medal in the women's kata event at the Pan American Sports Festival held in Tlaxcala, Mexico. [6] She won the silver medal in her event at the 2016 World University Karate Championships held in Braga, Portugal. [7] [8]

At the 2017 World Games held in Wrocław, Poland, Kokumai lost her bronze medal match against Sandy Scordo of France in the women's kata event. [9] In 2018, she competed in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships held in Madrid, Spain where she was eliminated in her third match by Viviana Bottaro of Italy. [10]

Kokumai won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru. [11] [12] She competed in the women's individual kata event at the 2019 World Beach Games held in Doha, Qatar without winning a medal. [13] She finished in 5th place. [13]

In April 2021, during a training session, Kokumai was subjected to anti-Asian harassment, of which she captured the incident [14] via Instagram. [15] [16] [17]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Kokumai competed in the women's kata where she lost her bronze medal match against Viviana Bottaro of Italy. [18] A few months after the Olympics, she also lost her bronze medal match against Bottaro in the women's individual kata event at the 2021 World Karate Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. [19]

Kokumai competed in the women's kata event at the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, United States. [20] In 2023, she lost her bronze medal match in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. [21] A week later, Kokumai won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile. [22]

Achievements

YearCompetitionVenueRankEvent
2012 World Championships Paris, France3rdIndividual kata
2013 World Combat Games Saint Petersburg, Russia3rdIndividual kata
2019 Pan American Games Lima, Peru1stIndividual kata
2023 Pan American Games Santiago, Chile1st Individual kata

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandra Sánchez</span> Spanish karateka (born 1981)

Sandra Sánchez Jaime is a retired Spanish karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She is a two-time gold medalist in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships. She also won the gold medal in this event at the European Karate Championships in seven consecutive competitions. She is also recognised by Guinness World Records for winning the most medals in the Karate1 Premier League; she won 35 consecutive medals between January 2014 and February 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanae Agalmam</span> Moroccan karateka

Sanae Agalmam is a Moroccan karateka. She represented Morocco at the 2019 African Games and she won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event. She also won the gold medal in the women's team kata event.

Ingrid Lizbeth Aranda Javes is a Peruvian karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2018 South American Games held in Cochabamba, Bolivia. In 2019, she won one of the bronze medals in the women's individual kata event at the Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru.

Andrea Armada Ruiz is a Venezuelan karateka. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's individual kata event at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru. She also won this medal at the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiyou Shimizu</span> Japanese karateka (born 1993)

Kiyou Shimizu is a Japanese karateka competing in the women's kata event. She won the silver medal in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Shimizu is also a two-time gold medalist at the World Karate Championships and a three-time gold medalist at the Asian Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viviana Bottaro</span> Italian karateka (born 1987)

Viviana Bottaro is an Italian karateka. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Bottaro has also won numerous medals in the women's individual kata and women's team kata events at the World Karate Championships and the European Karate Championships. She is a three-time bronze medalist in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships. She is also the 2014 European champion in this event.

Mattia Busato is an Italian karateka. He is a four-time bronze medalist at the World Karate Championships. He is also the gold medalist in the men's individual kata event at the 2014 European Karate Championships held in Tampere, Finland.

Monsicha Tararattanakul is a Thai karateka. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's kata event at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has also won medals at the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Karate Championships.

Mariano Wong is a Peruvian karateka. At the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, he won one of the bronze medals in the men's kata event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Héctor Cención</span> Panamanian karateka (born 1999)

Héctor Cención is a Panamanian karateka. At the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, he won one of the bronze medals in the men's kata event.

Grace Lau Mo-sheung is a Hong Kong karateka. She won bronze in the women’s kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, becoming the first Hong Kong athlete to win an Olympic medal in karate. She is a three-time medallist in the women's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships. She is also a medallist in this event at the Asian Games and the World Beach Games. She is a six-time medalist, including gold, at the Asian Karate Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatemeh Sadeghi</span> Iranian karateka (born 1999)

Fateme Sadeghi Dastak is an Iranian karate athlete. She won the silver medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2019 World Beach Games held in Doha, Qatar. She won the silver medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games held in Konya, Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dilara Bozan</span> Turkish karateka (born 1997)

Dilara Bozan is a Turkish karateka. She is a two-time gold medalist in the women's individual kata event at the Islamic Solidarity Games. She is also a ten-time medalist, including gold, in this event at the European Karate Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Scordo</span> French karateka (born 1985)

Sandy Scordo is a French karateka. She is a two-time silver medalist at the World Karate Championships in the women's individual kata event, both in 2012 and in 2014.

Terryana D'Onofrio is an Italian karateka. She is a four-time medalist at the World Karate Championships. She is a four-time gold medalist in the women's team kata event at the European Karate Championships.

Patrícia Esparteiro is a Portuguese karateka. She is a two-time bronze medalist in the women's team kata event at the European Karate Championships. She also won bronze in the individual kata event at this competition in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Feracci</span> French karate practitioner (born 1992)

Alexandra Feracci is a French karateka. She won one of the bronze medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2019 European Karate Championships held in Guadalajara, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Torres</span> American karateka (born 1997)

Ariel Torres Gutierrez is an American karateka. He won one of the bronze medals in the men's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. At the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, he won the silver medal in the men's kata event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krisda Putri Aprilia</span> Indonesian karateka

Krisda Putri Aprilia is an Indonesian karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2019 SEA Games held in the Philippines. She also won the silver medal in her event at the 2021 Asian Karate Championships held in Almaty, Kazakhstan and a bronze medal at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games held in Konya, Turkey.

Paola García Lozano is a Spanish karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event at the 2023 European Games held in Poland. She also won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 European Karate Championships held in Guadalajara, Spain.

References

  1. 1 2 "Olympics: Kokumai is U.S. Karate's Best Hope to Not Leave Empty Handed". Team USA. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  2. ↑ "WKF announces first qualified athletes for Tokyo 2020". World Karate Federation. March 18, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  3. ↑ Price, Karen (September 1, 2020). "For Sakura Kokumai, Team USA's First Karate Olympian, The Sport Is More About Art Than Aggression". Team USA. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Sakura Kokumai". Team USA. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  5. ↑ "SportAccord World Combat Games 2013". World Karate Federation. November 4, 2013. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Karate Medalists" (PDF). 2014 Pan American Sports Festival. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ Morgan, Liam (August 13, 2016). "Agier lays down marker with victory over rival Buchinger at World University Karate Championship". Inside the Games . Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  8. ↑ "2016 World University Karate Championships Results Book" (PDF). Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Karate Results" (PDF). 2017 World Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Results Book" (PDF). 2018 World Karate Championships. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Karate Results" (PDF). 2019 Pan American Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Lima 2019: Ingrid Aranda consigue la medalla de bronce en karate". Agencia Peruana de Noticias (in Spanish). August 9, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  13. 1 2 "Karate Results Book" (PDF). 2019 World Beach Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Couldn't stop thinking about what happened yesterday". Sakura Kokumai. April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  15. ↑ Burke, Minyvonne (April 9, 2021). "Olympic athlete Sakura Kokumai targeted in anti-Asian rant at park". NBC. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  16. ↑ Pinho, Faith E. (April 19, 2021). "Elderly Korean couple attacked in Orange park by same man who harassed Olympian, police say". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  17. ↑ Smith, Hayley (April 6, 2021). "Olympic athlete targeted in anti-Asian attack in Orange County". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  18. ↑ Costantini, Lisa (August 5, 2021). "Sakura Kokumai Finishes Fifth In Karate's Olympic Debut". Team USA. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  19. ↑ "2021 World Karate Championships Results Book" (PDF). World Karate Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Karate Results Book" (PDF). 2022 World Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  21. ↑ "2023 World Karate Championships Results Book". Sportdata.org. Archived from the original on October 29, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  22. ↑ "2023 Pan American Games Karate Results Book" (PDF). 2023 Pan American Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.