Urara Ashikawa
Urara Ashikawa (芦川うらら, Ashikawa Urara, born 8 March 2003) is a Japanese artistic gymnast who represented Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is the 2021 World Champion on the balance beam.[1]
| Urara Ashikawa | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country represented | Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 8, 2003 Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior International Elite | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2018–present (JPN) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Mizutori Gymnasium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal life edit
Ashikawa was born in Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan in 2003.[2] She began gymnastics when she was a year old and began training at Mizutori Gymnasium when she was in second grade.[3]
Junior gymnastics career edit
2016–17 edit
In 2016 Ashikawa competed at the All-Japan Event Championships where she placed third on balance beam behind Asuka Teramoto and Kiko Kuwajima.[4] In 2018 she again competed at the All-Japan Event Championships and once again placed third on balance beam behind Teramoto and Natsumi Sasada.[5]
2018 edit
In 2018 Ashikawa represented Japan at the Asian Junior Championships alongside Haruka Ikeda, Hinata Matsubara, Shoko Miyata, and Ayumi Niiyama. They placed second in the team final behind China. Individually Ashikawa placed fifth in the all-around, seventh on uneven bars, and sixth on balance beam.[6] At the All-Japan Event Championships Ashikawa placed ninth on balance beam during qualifications and did not qualify to the event final.[7] She ended the season competing at the World Cup trials where she placed second on balance beam behind Mana Oguchi.[8]
Senior gymnastics career edit
2019 edit
Ashikawa turned senior in 2019. She made her senior international debut at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy where she placed 16th in the all-around and seventh on uneven bars and balance beam.[9] At the All Japan Event Championships she placed sixth on balance beam.[10] In November she made her World Cup debut at the Cottbus World Cup where she won gold on balance beam ahead of Ukrainian Diana Varinska.[11]
2020 edit
In February Ashikawa competed at the Melbourne World Cup where she once again won gold on balance beam, this time ahead of first-year senior Ondine Achampong of Great Britain.[12] She next competed at the Baku World Cup where she qualified to the balance beam final in first place; however event finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan.[13] The FIG later ruled that the results of qualification would be used for point distribution for Olympic qualification, meaning Ashikawa earned a perfect score of 90 and no other competitor could match her score on the balance beam.[14]
2021 edit
In June Ashikawa was officially awarded an Olympic berth via the Apparatus World Cup series and competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics as an individual athlete. She was originally the first reserve for the balance beam final but was able to compete when Larisa Iordache withdrew. She finished sixth.[15]
In October Ashikawa competed at the 2021 World Championships in Kitakyushu. While there she won gold on the balance beam.[16] This was Japan's second world gold medal on the apparatus following Keiko Tanaka-Ikeda's win in 1954. Ashikawa became the third Japanese woman to win a world title in artistic gymnastics following Tanaka-Ikeda and Mai Murakami.
Competitive history edit
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | |||||||
| 2016 | All Japan Event Championships | ||||||
| 2017 | All Japan Event Championships | ||||||
| 2018 | |||||||
| Asian Championships | 5 | 7 | 6 | ||||
| All Japan Event Championships | R2 | ||||||
| World Cup Trials | |||||||
| Senior | |||||||
| 2019 | City of Jesolo Trophy | 4 | 16 | 7 | 7 | ||
| All Japan Event Championships | 6 | ||||||
| Cottbus World Cup | |||||||
| 2020 | Melbourne World Cup | ||||||
| Baku World Cup | 1 | ||||||
| 2021 | All-Japan Championships | 14 | |||||
| NHK Trophy | 11 | ||||||
| Olympic Games | 6 | ||||||
| World Championships | |||||||
| 2022 | All-Japan Championships | 7 | |||||
| NKH Trophy | 14 | ||||||
| 2023 | Cottbus World Cup | ||||||
| World Championships | 8 | 5 | |||||
| 2024 | Cottbus World Cup | ||||||
References edit
- ^ "WOMEN'S BALANCE BEAM FINAL - RESULTS". October 24, 2021.
- ^ "芦川（富士出身）自然体で五輪代表狙う 体操種目別". Shizuoka Sports (in Japanese). March 11, 2020.
- ^ "中野結香アナ「心から尊敬します」体操界のニューヒロイン・芦川うららを初取材！". Niconico (in Japanese). June 11, 2020.
- ^ "2016 All Japan Event Championships Results". The Gymternet. June 7, 2016.
- ^ "2017 All Japan Event Championships Results". The Gymternet. June 25, 2017.
- ^ "2018 Asian Junior Championships Results". The Gymternet. April 30, 2018.
- ^ "2018 All Japan Event Championships". The Gymternet. July 8, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Japanese World Cup Trials Results". The Gymternet. December 5, 2018.
- ^ "2019 City of Jesolo Trophy Results". The Gymternet. March 4, 2019.
- ^ "2019 All Japan Event Championships Results". The Gymternet. June 26, 2019.
- ^ (24 November 2019). Apparatus Final Women: Results: Balance Beam. Deutscher Turner-Bund, Turnier der Meister. https://www.turnier-der-meister.de/download/doc/2019/f_w_beam.pdf
- ^ "Ondine Achampong wins silver on senior international debut". British Gymnastics. February 24, 2020.
- ^ "Finals of Baku World Cup cancelled". International Gymnastics Federation. March 13, 2020.
- ^ "体操、芦川うららが五輪代表前進". Kyoto.np.jp (in Japanese). April 10, 2020.
- ^ "Simone Biles, in a Comeback, Takes Bronze on the Balance Beam". New York Times. August 3, 2021.
- ^ "Retiring Mai Murakami ends career with gold at world championships". The Japan Times. October 25, 2021.
External links edit
- Urara Ashikawa at the International Gymnastics Federation