Gymnast Uchimura Kohei Picked For 4th Olympics
Multiple Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Uchimura Kohei has been picked to represent Japan in the men's horizontal bar event at the Tokyo Olympics -- his fourth straight summer Games.
The 32-year-old provisionally secured his spot through a points-based qualification system for individual events following his performance at the national apparatus championships in Takasaki City, central Japan, on Sunday. It was the final qualifying round for Japanese gymnasts seeking a place at the Tokyo Games.
Uchimura won silver medals in the team and individual all-round events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he was 19 years old.
He won gold medals in the individual all-round category at two consecutive Olympics in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Uchimura also won six World Championships in a row.
In the team events, he led Japan's national Olympic teams to silver in London and gold in Rio de Janeiro.
In February last year, Uchimura decided to concentrate on the horizontal bar category in an effort to improve his shoulder pain and reduce the burden on his physique.