Japanese Gymnast Takashi Ono

gymnast takashi

Japanese gymnast Takashi Ono (born 1936) represented Japan at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games and is one of the most successful and best-known athletes in the history of artistic gymnastics. He won 13 Olympic medals, including five golds, and is widely regarded as one of the best gymnasts of all time.

He is considered to be the most successful male gymnast in Japanese sport, and he remains popular with fans of the sport in Japan and abroad. He and his wife Kiyoko Ono had two children while both were competing, balancing their careers with family life.

Ono was the first Japanese to win an individual Olympic gymnastics gold medal, a gold on the horizontal bar in both 1956 and 1960. He also won a gold in the horse vault and team gold in 1956 and 1960, and he was a member of the Japan team that won bronze at the 1962 World Championships.

His greatest achievement was winning an individual all-round gold at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. His performance on the parallel bars and vault was considered his signature skills and earned him a place in the history of gymnastics.

Other achievements include a career record of four team titles, three team all-around gold medals and two individual all-around silver medals. He also won a career-high three medals at the 1958 World Championships, and two more at the 1962 World Championships.

He was also an influential figure in the development of gymnastics in Japan. He served as an advisor to the Japanese gymnastics federation and founded its first training center in Tokyo in 1961.

In addition to his work with the federation, Ono was also a sports writer for various newspapers and magazines. He wrote many articles on gymnastics and related topics, and his book Gymnastics: A Complete Guide was published in Japan in 1986.

At the time of his death, he was 89 years old and survived by his wife and two daughters. He was a well-known member of the Japanese gymnastics community, and his philanthropic endeavors helped raise funds for charitable organizations.

Ono’s legacy is still felt in the sport of gymnastics, as his daughter Naoya Ono competed at the World Championships and Olympic Games throughout the late 1990s and continues to compete. She is currently a member of the Japanese national team and trains at Nippon Sports Science University in Teikyo, Japan.

Known for her ability to perform a variety of skill combinations, Ono was considered a master of the double back dismount on the parallel bars, although she also mastered the inverted cross, handstands, and back flips. She also was a strong competitor on floor exercise and the uneven bars.

She was a member of the Japanese women’s national team in 2011 and 2012. Her first international competition came at the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival, where she won gold on the uneven bars and silver in the team and all-around.

She has trained at Nippon Sports Science University since she graduated from high school. She is coached by her mother, Yayoi Sasada.