The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and the most recent Games are being held in 2024 in Paris, France. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is responsible for organising the Games and for overseeing the host city's preparations. The tradition of awarding medals began in 1904; in each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals for second place, and bronze medals for third place. The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympic Games, which are regarded as the largest and most prestigious multi-sport international event in the world.
The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 days. The World Games are governed by the International World Games Association, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.
Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (dohyō) or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet.
Sports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture. Traditional sports, such as sumo and martial arts, as well as Western imports like baseball, association football, basketball and tennis are popular with both participants and spectators.
A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events.
The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and officially branded as Tokyo 2020, were an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July 2021. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 7 September 2013.
Ryōgoku Kokugikan, also known as Ryōgoku Sumo Hall or Kokugikan Arena, is the name bestowed to two different indoor sporting arenas located in Tokyo. The first Ryōgoku Kokugikan opened its doors in 1909 and was located on the premises of the Ekōin temple in Ryōgoku, Tokyo. Although no sumo bouts were held after 1945, following the capitulation of Japan and the requisition of the building by the occupying forces, the building itself remained active until 1983, being notably used by the Nihon University. The second Ryōgoku Kokugikan is currently located in the Yokoami neighborhood of Sumida next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It opened in 1985, following the closure of the Kuramae Kokugikan, and is still in use today.
Sumo was introduced as an official World Games sport at the 2005 World Games in Duisburg. It had previously appeared as an invitational sport at the 2001 World Games in Akita.
The Sumo World Championships is an amateur sumo competition organized by the International Sumo Federation. The men's competition started in 1992 and the women's competition started in 2001, with both competitions having been held together. The competitions are generally held every year, although the 2009 and 2011 events were cancelled due to the 2009 flu pandemic and political unrest over the Arab Spring respectively. The 24th edition, originally scheduled to take place in Russia in 2022, was rescheduled to be held in Tokyo in late 2023.
Ōsunaarashi Kintarō is a retired sumo wrestler from Egypt. He was the first pro sumo wrestler from the African continent. Ōsunaarashi, whose chosen ring name translates into English as "great sandstorm", rose quickly through the unsalaried ranks, gaining the interest of Japanese media and popularity among sumo fans. Ōsunaarashi was promoted to the top tier makuuchi division for the November 2013 tournament. He emerged victorious from his first two matches against yokozuna ranked wrestlers in July 2014. He dropped in rank after injury problems and was forced to retire in March 2018 after being involved in a traffic accident when he was driving without a valid license. After leaving sumo he signed with Rizin FF, a Japanese national mixed martial arts organization where he joined other former rikishi like Baruto Kaito and Akebono Tarō. His mixed martial arts debut was at Rizin 13.
The archery events at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo took place in Yumenoshima Park. Five events were planned with a mixed team event staged for the first time.
The 2022 World Games were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines of Olympic sports and other competitions that are not currently contested at the Olympic Games; the Games featured 3,457 athletes competing in 223 medal events over 34 total sports.
Greece competed at the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, United States from 7 to 17 July 2022. Athletes representing Greece won one gold medal, three silver medals and four bronze medals. The country finished in 34th place in the medal table.
Egypt competed at the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, United States from 7 to 17 July 2022. Athletes representing Egypt won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal. The country finished in 22nd place in the medal table. Most medals were won in karate.
Japan competed at the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, United States from 7 to 17 July 2022. Athletes representing Japan won 10 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 12 bronze medals. The country finished in 8th place in the medal table.
Ayumi Fukushima, also known as Ayumi, is a Japanese breakdancer. She participated at the 2022 World Games in the dancesport competition, being awarded the bronze medal in the B-Girls event. In 2021, Fukushima won the world championship in a competition in France. She also participated at a Red Bull BC One competition. Ayumi works as a schoolteacher.
Ami Yuasa, also known mononymously as Ami, is a Japanese breakdancer. She participated at the 2022 World Games in the dancesport competition where she won the gold medal in the B-Girls event.
Shigeyuki Nakarai, also known mononymously as Shigekix, is a Japanese breakdancer. He participated at the 2022 World Games in the dancesport competition where he won the bronze medal in the B-Boys event. In 2023, he won the gold for the men's breakdancing event in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, and a day later, was chosen to be Japan's flag bearer in the closing ceremony of the games., on July 1, 2024, the Japanese Olympic Committee was designated to him and the female fencer Misaki Emura as the flag bearers to París 2024 Olympic Games.
Jeffrey Louis, also known mononymously as Jeffro, is an American breakdancer. He has been breakdancing since the age of 12.
Victor Montalvo, also known mononymously as Victor, is an American bboy. He participated at the 2022 World Games in the dancesport competition where he won the gold medal in the B-Boys event. He is also a 2 time champion of Red Bull BC One, winning in 2015 and 2022. Montalvo became the first American to qualify for the Olympics in the sport of breaking.
Birmingham, United States
