Sakura Motoki Explained

Sakura Motoki
Headercolor:lightblue
Native Name:元木咲良
Birth Date:2002 2, df=yes
Birth Place:Saitama, Japan
Height:1.6m (05.2feet)
Weight:62kg (137lb)
Country:Japan
Sport:Women's freestyle wrestling
Event:62 kg

is a Japanese freestyle wrestler competing in the 62 kg division.[1] She won the gold medal in the women's 62kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[2]

Career

Sakura Motoki reached the semi-finals in the women's freestyle 59 kg category at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, by defeating Turkish Ebru Dağbaşı in the first round with a 5–0 lead and Alyona Kolesnik, competing for Azerbaijan, in the quarter-finals with a 6–0 lead. She lost to Anastasia Nichita from Moldova 7–5 in the semi-final. In the bronze medal match, she won the bronze medal by beating China's Zhang Qi with a pin while leading 7–0.[3]

In 2023, Motoki competed in the women's 62kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia and won the silver medal.[4] As a result, she earned a quota place for Japan for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[5]

In 2024, she won the silver medal in the women's 62kg event at the Asian Wrestling Championships held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.[6] Motoki won the gold medal in the women's 62kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[2] [7] She defeated Iryna Koliadenko of Ukraine in her gold medal match.[2] [7]

Achievements

YearTournamentLocationResultEvent
2022World ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia3rdFreestyle 59kg
2023World ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia2ndFreestyle 62kg
2024Asian ChampionshipsBishkek, Kyrgyzstan2ndFreestyle 62kg
Summer OlympicsParis, France1stFreestyle 62kg

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sakura Motoki profile page. uww.org.
  2. News: Khalatyan . Rafael . 10 August 2024 . Wrestling: Petriashvili finally gets his hands on gold . 20 August 2024 . InsideTheGames.biz.
  3. News: 59kg Bracket . 12 September 2022 . United World Wrestling.
  4. Web site: 2023 World Wrestling Championships Results Book . https://web.archive.org/web/20231104205225/https://d3u2kdyvfaxwhl.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/2023-09/final-book-2023-senior_world_championships_and_og_qualif.pdf?VersionId=Vw6R1se4WK.11kPw_YnsfzZdbwCSiIiI . 4 November 2023 . 4 November 2023 . United World Wrestling.
  5. Web site: Qualification System – Games of the XXXIII Olympiad – Paris 2024 – Wrestling . https://web.archive.org/web/20240113060500/https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/Paris-2024/Paris2024-QS-Wrestling.pdf . 13 January 2024 . 11 April 2024 . United World Wrestling.
  6. Web site: 2024 Asian Wrestling Championships Results Book . https://web.archive.org/web/20240422161208/https://cdn.uww.org/2024-04/results_04_bishkek.pdf . 22 April 2024 . 22 April 2024 . United World Wrestling.
  7. Web site: Wrestling Results Book . https://web.archive.org/web/20240811181048/https://olympics.com/OG2024/pdf/OG2024/WRE/OG2024_WRE_B99_WRE-------------------------------.pdf . 11 August 2024 . 12 August 2024 . 2024 Summer Olympics.