Contents
Kaori Icho
Winning four consecutive Olympic wrestling titles.
Athens champion · Ten world titles
- Born
- 13 June 1984
- Birthplace
- Hachinohe, Japan
More people
Kaori Icho
Kaori Icho is a Japanese freestyle wrestler who combined ten world titles with Olympic golds from Athens to Rio.
Early life
Aomori
Was born in Hachinohe in northern Japan.
Wrestling family
Her older sister Chiharu also became an Olympic wrestling medallist.
Career
- 2000s
World champion
Established herself among Japan’s leading freestyle wrestlers.
- 2004–2012
Olympic sequence
Won at Athens, Beijing and London.
- 2016
Fourth gold
Won again in Rio after a rare defeat earlier in the year.
Achievements
Athens champion
Won at the first Olympics to include women’s wrestling.
Ten world titles
Sustained international dominance across weight classes.
Fourth Olympic gold
Completed four successive individual Olympic victories.
Beyond wrestling
National honour
Received Japan’s People’s Honour Award in 2016.
Training independence
Moved to Tokyo after leaving Kazuhito Sakae’s coaching in 2009.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Photo: 首相官邸. CC BY 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
