| Sugawara Risa | |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Sport: | Gymnastics |
| Birth Date: | 15 August 1977 |
| Birth Place: | Saitama, Japan |
, née, is a Japanese gymnastics coach and former artistic gymnast.[1] She was a five-time all-around national champion and competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where she finished 29th in the individual all around.[2] [3]
Sugawara was born in Toda, Saitama. Her parents were both gymnasts; her father, Hiroshi Sugawara won a silver team medal at the men's gymnastics event at the 1974 Asian Games, and her mother, Takako Hasegawa, competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[4] Her older brother,, is a politician who became the mayor of Toda in 2018.[5] When she was an active gymnast, she looked up to teammate Mari Kosuge.[6]
She began gymnastics at the Toda Sports Center, where her parents coached. In 1994, she won her first national all-around title. She also competed at the 1994 Asian Games, where she won a silver medal with the team.[7]
In 1996, Sugawara entered Nippon Sport Science University. That year, she tied for Japanese champion with . She represented Japan at the 1996 Summer Olympics and finished 29th in the individual all-around.
From 1997–1999, she won an additional three all-around national titles in a row. At the 1997 Summer Universiade, she won gold in the balance beam and floor finals, along with a silver on uneven bars and a bronze medal in the team event. At the 1998 Asian Games, she again won silver with the Japanese team. She also won individual bronze medals in the all-around and on the floor event.
Sugawara retired in 1999 due to injuries.[8] She spent three years studying abroad at the Australian Institute of Sport. She now works as a coach in Toda and has two children. Her students include Olympians Hiraiwa Yuna and Rina Kishi. She has also spoken about her struggles with disordered eating to maintain her body weight during her time as a gymnast and the changing trend in women's gymnastics toward building more muscle in order to complete difficult elements.
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Aloha Gymfest | 10 | |||||
| Japanese Championships | 20 | ||||||
| 1990 | Japanese Championships | 10 | 6 | ||||
| NHK Cup | 11 | ||||||
| 1991 | Aloha Gymfest | ||||||
| Blume Memorial | 31 | ||||||
| 1992 | Gander Memorial | 6 | |||||
| Japanese Championships | |||||||
| NHK Cup | 7 | ||||||
| Pacific Alliance Championships | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | |||
| Swiss Cup | 6 | ||||||
| 1993 | Chunichi Cup | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | |
| East Asian Games | |||||||
| Japanese Championships | 4 | 5 | |||||
| JPN-USA Dual Meet | 4 | ||||||
| NHK Cup | |||||||
| Tokyo Cup | 7 | 4 | 8 | ||||
| World Championships | 30 | ||||||
| 1994 | McDonald's American Cup | 14 | |||||
| Asian Games | 5 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Chunichi Cup | 5 | ||||||
| Fukuoka Cup | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||
| International Mixed Pairs | 13 | ||||||
| Japanese Championships | |||||||
| 1995 | Aloha Gymfest | ||||||
| Chunichi Cup | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | ||
| Gander Memorial | 7 | ||||||
| Japanese Championships | |||||||
| Pre-Olympics Test Event | 14 | ||||||
| World Championships | 10 | 28 | |||||
| 1996 | Chunichi Cup | 4 | |||||
| Japanese Championships | |||||||
| NHK Cup | |||||||
| Olympic Games | 12 | 29 | |||||
| 1997 | Visa American Cup | 10 | |||||
| Chunichi Cup | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | ||
| Japanese Championships | 8 | ||||||
| NHK Cup | |||||||
| Pitari Cup | |||||||
| Summer Universiade | |||||||
| Lausanne World Championships | 9 | 25 | |||||
| 1998 | American Classic | 33 | |||||
| Visa American Cup | 17 | ||||||
| Asian Games | 5 | 4 | |||||
| China Cup | 10 | 8 | |||||
| Chunichi Cup | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | ||
| Japanese Championships | |||||||
| NHK Cup | |||||||
| Pacific Alliance Championships | 31 | 7 | 6 | ||||
| World Cup Final | 7 | 5 | |||||
| 1999 | Japanese Championships | ||||||
| NHK Cup | |||||||
| World Championships | 13 | 18 |