Birth name Mayu Mukaida Nationality Japan Weight 57 kg (126 lb) Name Mayu Mukaida | Full name Mayu Mukaida Height 157 cm (5 ft 2 in) Country Japan Residence Tokyo, Japan | |
Born June 22, 1997 (age 26) ( 1997-06-22 ) Yokkaichi, Mie | ||
Yongmi PAK (PRK) df. Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN)
Mayu Mukaida (向田 真優, Mukaida Mayu, born June 5, 1997 ) is a Japanese wrestler. She comes from Yokkaichi, Mie. Her coach is Shoko Yoshimura.
Contents
- Yongmi PAK PRK df Mayu MUKAIDA JPN
- Career
- Play style and private issues
- Japan domestic
- International
- References
She has been competing in the same class as Saori Yoshida, a Japanese gold medalist, so the Japanese wrestling world is expecting her to be Saori Yoshida's rival in the future.
Career
When she was a child, she played Karate under the influence of her mother and sister. At the age of 5, She turned to wrestling because her father who is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, recommended. She shows the talent of wrestling when she is a schoolgirl and she got a gold medal at the Mie prefecture Championship for the first time at the age of 8 (2005). She achieved four consecutive championships in boys and girls national championships and she got a recommendation from deputy secretary-general of Japan Wrestling Federation (JWF) to enter Japanese Olympic Committee's Elite Academy. She belonged to Yokkaichi Junior Wrestling Club when she was an elementary school student. She also practiced another club. In April 2010, She entered the Elite Academy. In the first year she entered the academy, she got the title only once. In December 4, 2011, she won national junior championship selection in the 52 kg and she also won championship chairman's award (for the best wrestler of the women).
May 29, 2012, new emblem and slogan for Tokyo bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics was announced. At that time, she attended as one of the four students of the Elite Academy and she commented, "I practice more and more to fight in the same stage. I want to take the gold medal at the Olympics". In August 2012, she won FILA Cadet World Championship in the 52 kg, it held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
August 2013, she won at Girls' freestyle 52 kg in inter-high school championships, which was held at Shimabara Fukko Arena, Nagasaki prefecture. Girls' wrestling adopted as demonstration sports in 2013, so she became the first winner of the event. She also won the most valuable player at that time. In the same month, she defeated Luiza Suleymanova from Russia and got gold medal at FILA Cadet World Championship in the 52 kg. It means she achieved two consecutive. In the All Japan Championships in the 51 kg, it was held on December 21, 2013, she fought against Yu Miyahara. She led the game at 6 to 3, but Miyahara got three points in the last second, so she missed the championship.
March 1, 2014, she won Klippan Lady Open in cadet division 52 kg. She got three titles in this game. In May 2014, she defeated Xie Ya from China and won the Asian Cadet Championships. As a result, she got a berth of 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. In June 2014, she was defeated by Nanami Irie (Kyushu Kyoritsu University) at the semi final of All Japan Championships Selection 53 kg. After that she defeated Arisa Tanaka (Waseda University) and she was in the 3rd place.
August 26, 2014, she competed at Wrestling at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics – Girls' freestyle 52 kg and she passed the primary league as a top to win three matches. At the final match, she fought against Leyla Gurbanova from Azerbaijan and she won a gold medal.
Play style and private issues
She is good at tackle and fight aggressively. She is in the same class with Saori Yoshida. She is training with Yoshida at the Japan national team's camp. Yoshida talked to her since she was a schoolgirl. Yoshida evaluates her as "Her trunk is strong and balance is also good".
She is an alumnae of Yokkaichi city Tomariyama elementary school in Mie prefecture and Kita city Inatsuke junior high school in Tokyo. In 2014, she is in the second grade of Abe Gakuin high school in Tokyo. To win gold medals at the Olympic Games, she entered JOC Elite Academy, which provide special training for Japanese top athletes. So she lives away from her home since she was 12 years old. Initially she felt lonely because no parents and friends in the dormitory, she gradually overcame it.
She knew Youth Olympic Games after she entered the Academy. After that she practiced a lot to win at the game and she achieved it. She wants to get a gold medal at 2020 summer Olympic game held in Tokyo.