Naoya Tsukahara (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

:塚原直也 ''Tsukahara Naoya'', born June 25, 1977) is a former Japanese

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist now coaching and competing for Australia. He is the son of the former Japanese gymnast,

Mitsuo Tsukahara Mitsuo Tsukahara (塚原光男 ''Tsukahara Mitsuo'', born December 22, 1947) is a Japanese artistic gymnast. He was five times an Olympic Gold Medalist. He remained active in the sport after his retirement from competition. He served as vice p ...

, who was also a multiple gold medalist in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

during the 1960s and 70s. He competed at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics as well as many World Championships for team Japan from 1996 until 2006. In 2009, he moved to Australia, gaining citizenship in 2012, and currently represents Australia's national gymnastics team, most recently competing at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Competitive History

Late 1990s

Naoya participated at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The Japanese team finished 10th in the team final. Individually, Naoya qualified into the all-around final and finished 12th in the final. Although Naoya did not get any medal in the

, he had been quite successful after that. In the 1997 World Championships, he won two bronze medals in the all-around and on

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

. In the 1999 World Championships, he had pushed himself to a higher level of success, winning silver medals in all-around and on parallel bars.

2000 Summer Olympics

Following his successes at the World Championships, Naoya eventually came to his second Olympic Games, the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

. This time the Japanese gymnastics team was edged by the Russian team for a bronze medal. Individually, Naoya qualified 6th and 10th into the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

and all-around final respectively. He finally finished 18th in all-around final, and a fall in the horizontal bar final made him come last, with a score of 8.825.

2001–2003

After the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, Naoya could not regain his form of 2000. In addition, there were some fabulous gymnasts rose in Japan, including Hiroyuki Tomita,

Isao Yoneda ; (born August 20, 1977 in Hamburg, Germany) is a Japanese gymnast. He was raised in Tokyo. He is the 2004 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the team event and the bronze medalist in the high bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high b ...

and

Takehiro Kashima is a Japanese gymnast, world champion and Olympic champion. Olympics Kashima won a gold medal in the ''team all-around'' and a bronze medal in ''pommel-horse'' at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.2003 World Championships, Naoya made it into the all-around and parallel bars finals, finishing 7th in the all-around while his teammate, Hiroyuki Tomita, won a bronze in that event. Individually, Naoya placed 4th on his strongest event, parallel bars with a score of 9.675.

2004 Summer Olympics

Naoya made the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

held in Athens,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The Japanese team showed strong performances and eventually won the team gold medal. Naoya placed 4th on

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

in prelim with a 9.725, the same score of his teammates,

and Daisuke Nakano. However, the tie-breaker policy favoured his two teammates into the final. He did not qualify into the all-around final.

After the 2004 Summer Olympics

Naoya was 27 when the Olympics in Athens wrapped, which was an age considered 'old' for gymnastics. Nevertheless, he kept competing. He won a bronze medal with the team in the 2006 World Championships but could not make the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. He was still competing as of Summer 2010.

Competing For Australia

In 2009, he moved to Australia, competing and winning at the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013 Australian National Gymnastics Championships, and winning 2nd place behind Joshua Jefferis in 2012. In 2012, he gained Australian citizenship, allowing him to compete representing Australia in international competitions. However, the process was not completed in time for qualification to the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2013, he competed at the 2013 World Championships, narrowly missing the all-around finals, but premiering two new variations of the V-cross on still rings. FIG later announced the Li Ning 2 to V-cross as the "Tsukahara," named after the athlete. This rare honor for a gymnast is one his father also experienced multiple times. He also competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, UK. In March 2016, Tsukahara retired.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsukahara, Naoya 1977 births Living people Japanese male artistic gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic gymnasts of Japan Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in gymnastics Asian Games medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1998 Asian Games Gymnasts at the 2002 Asian Games Gymnasts at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Australian male artistic gymnasts Australian people of Japanese descent Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Universiade medalists in gymnastics Universiade gold medalists for Japan Universiade silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people