Takeru Kitazono

Takeru Kitazono (born 21 October 2002) is a Japanese male artistic gymnast.[1] At the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he won five gold medals in the all-around, floor, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar competitions.[2] He was the first artistic gymnast ever to achieve such a feat in a single Youth Olympic Games.[3]

Takeru Kitazono
Kitazono at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
Personal information
Full nameTakeru Kitazono
Country represented Japan
Born (2002-10-21) October 21, 2002
Osaka, Japan
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
ClubSeifu High School
Head coach(es)Hideki Umemoto
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Japan
Junior World Championships
2019 GyőrTeam
2019 GyőrPommel Horse
2019 GyőrParallel Bars
Youth Olympic Games
2018 Buenos AiresAll-Around
2018 Buenos AiresFloor Exercise
2018 Buenos AiresRings
2018 Buenos AiresParallel Bars
2018 Buenos AiresHorizontal Bar
Representing Mixed-NOCs
Youth Olympic Games
2018 Buenos Aires Mixed team

Early life

Kitazono was born on 21 October 2002 in Osaka, Japan. He started gymnastics when he was three years old after his mother enrolled him in a nearby gym.[4]

Gymnastics career

2018

Kitazono was selected to represent Japan at the third Youth Olympics Games. While there he won an unprecedented five gold medals – in the all-around, floor exercise, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar – beating the previous record of three gold medals won by Nikita Nagornyy and Giarnni Regini-Moran at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. He finished sixth on pommel horse.[3] In addition to his five gold medals, Kitazono also received a silver medal in the mixed multi-discipline team (teams were randomly composed of gymnasts from various countries and various disciplines). Kitazono was assigned to the named named after British gymnast Max Whitlock.

Kitazono later competed at the All-Japan Team Championships where he helped his club finish seventh.[5]

2019
Takeru Kitazono at a 2019 Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships victory ceremony.

In January Kitazono competed at the RD761 Junior International Cup where he helped Japan win gold and individually he placed first in the all-around and on pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars and he placed seventh on horizontal bar and sixth on floor exercise.[6]

Kitazono was selected to represent Japan at the inaugural Junior World Championships alongside Ryosuke Doi and Shinnosuke Oka. While there the team won gold in the team final finishing nearly 3 points ahead of second place Ukraine. Although Kitazono recorded the third highest all-around score of the day, he was left off the podium due to both teammates scoring higher and the two-per-country rule taking place.[7] During event finals he won gold on pommel horse and parallel bars and placed seventh on floor exercise.[8]

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References
  1. "KITAZONO Takeru". www.fig-gymnastics.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  2. "Buenos Aires 2018". Buenos Aires 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  3. "Takeru Kitazono: A star is born - Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  4. "TAKERU KITAZONO: THE NEW UCHIMURA?". Olympic Channel. October 18, 2018.
  5. "20188 All Japan Team Championships Mens Results". The Gymternet. November 28, 2018.
  6. "2019 RD761 Junior International Cup Results". The Gymternet. January 20, 2019.
  7. "Japan Take Historic Golds At The Junior World Championships!". Hungarian Gymnastics Federation. June 27, 2019.
  8. "2019 Junior World Championships Mens Results". The Gymternet. July 3, 2019.
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