●Nathan Shiga: August 24, 2017

An 18-Year-Old Japanese girl wrestled her way up to a gold medal in Paris in the World Championships, August 24. Yui Susaki outwrestled a Romanian in a technical fall for a gold medal in the 48-kg category. It is her first and Japan’s fourth gold medal.

“So excited”, she exclaimed, ” to have had my dream come true to be the world champion”, adding:

“Tough training I’ve endured just to win the gold medal this time.

“This is only the start, and I have my mind set to win another in Tokyo three years from now.”

Yui Susaki is a high school 3rd grader from Matsudo, Chiba. She trains at a local wrestling club where her father coaches. Yui joined the JOC’s Elite Academy at grade 2. She wrestles fast and tackles so skillfully that there was not a single contest she could not win in her junior high school days.

In her high school days, Yui Susaki challenged the All-Japan Championships among the top wrestlers and won last year’s tournament for the first time, and two years in a row in the national invitational tournament.

Yui has Eri Noborizaka, Rio’s gold medalist, for a rival in the 48-kg category. Which will represent Japan in Tokyo in 2020 is already a heated debate among the wrestling fans here in Japan.

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