Shoko Miyata Explained

Shoko Miyata
Native Name:宮田 笙子
Native Name Lang:ja
Nickname:Shokomi
Birth Date:2004 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Kyoto, Japan
Height:151cm
Discipline:WAG
Level:Senior International Elite
Natlteam:2018–present (JPN)
Club:Juntendo University
Headcoach:Mutsumi Harada
Show-Medals:yes

is a Japanese artistic gymnast. She is the 2022 World bronze medalist on the balance beam as well as the 2022 Asian Championships silver medalist on vault and floor exercise. She was set to represent Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics, but on 18 July 2024 it was announced that she had been removed from the team.[1]

Career

Miyata began training in gymnastics when she was four years old after following her older brother to a gymnastics class.[2]

Junior

Miyata made her international debut at the 2018 International Gymnix competition in Montreal where she placed tenth in the all-around. In the event finals, she placed fifth on the vault and seventh on the balance beam.[3] Later that year, she competed at the Junior Asian Championships where she helped Japan finish second in the team competition behind China. Individually, Miyata won bronze on vault behind Qi Qi of China and compatriot Ayumi Niiyama.[4]

Miyata finished 28th in the all-around during the qualification round of the 2019 All-Japan Championships.[5] She was selected to represent Japan at the inaugural Junior World Championships alongside Hazuki Watanabe and Chiaki Hatakeda. Together, they finished 11th as a team.[6] Individually, Miyata finished 18th in the all-around and was the highest-placing Japanese female gymnast,[7] and she was the first reserve for the vault final.[8] She then placed 23rd in the all-around at the 2019 All-Japan Junior Championships.[9]

Senior

2020

Miyata became age-eligible for senior international competitions in 2020 and made her senior international debut at the Melbourne World Cup. She finished third on vault behind Jade Carey and Coline Devillard.[10] However, most other competitions were canceled or postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In September, she competed at the All-Japan Senior Championships and finished 10th in the all-around.[11] Then in December, she placed 56th in the qualification round of the All-Japan Championships.[12]

2021

Miyata finished 36th in the all-around during the qualification round of the All-Japan Championships.[13] She then won a silver medal on the vault behind Mai Murakami at the All-Japan Event Championships.[14] At the All-Japan Senior Championships, she won the all-around title and improved her score from the All-Japan Championships by over 5 points.[15] She led her club to the bronze medal at the All-Japan Team Championships and had the highest score in the all-around.[16]

2022

Miyata began the season with a second-place finish at the All-Japan Championships.[17] She then won the all-around title at the NHK Trophy, becoming the first high schooler to win the women's event in seven years. At the Asian Championships, she helped Japan finish third as a team. Individually, she placed fourth in the all-around and won silver medals on the vault and floor exercise behind Yeo Seo-jeong and Wu Ran, respectively.[18]

In late October, Miyata made her senior World Championships debut at the World Championships in Liverpool, qualifying for the all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor event finals.[19] She contributed scores of 14.400 on vault, 13.233 on balance beam, and 13.700 on the floor exercise towards Japan's seventh place finish in the team final.[20] She then finished eighth in the all-around final,[21] fifth in the vault final, and eighth in the floor final.[22] In the balance beam final, she scored 13.533 and won the bronze medal behind teammate Hazuki Watanabe and Canadian Ellie Black.[23] After the World Championships, she led her team to the title at the All-Japan Team Championships.[24]

2023

In April, Miyata graduated from high school and enrolled in Juntendo University and joined its gymnastics club.[25] She competed at the All-Japan Championships despite a stress fracture in her right heel, and she finished second behind Hazuki Watanabe.[26] She then won her second consecutive NHK Trophy title and was selected for the World Championships team.[27] She won the vault title at the All-Japan Event Championships and placed seventh on the balance beam.[28]

Miyata competed at the World University Games where she helped Japan finish second as a team behind China. She withdrew from the all-around final after the third rotation, but she still competed in the event finals. She won gold on vault, bronze on floor exercise, and placed fourth on balance beam.[29] At the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp she helped Japan qualify for the team final, where they ended up in eighth place and secured an Olympic berth.[30] Individually she qualified for the vault final, where she placed sixth.[31] After the World Championships, she competed at the All-Japan Team Championships and helped her club place seventh.[32]

2024

Miyata began the season with her first All-Japan Championships victory.[33] In the lead up to the NHK Trophy, she injured her left groin, but still chose to compete.[34] She won the gold medal in the all-around and was selected for the Japanese Olympic team alongside Rina Kishi, Haruka Nakamura, Mana Okamura, and Kohane Ushioku.[35] However, she was forced to leave the team after she was caught smoking on 13 July.[36] On 19 July the Japan Gymnastics Association held a press conference, announcing that Miyata would be withdrawing from the Games.[37]

Competitive history

align=center Yearalign=center EventTeamAAVTUBBBFX
Junior
2018 align=left 10 5 7
align=left Asian Championships
align=left All-Japan Event Championships 5
2019 align=left All-Japan Championships 28
align=left 11 18
align=left All-Japan Junior Championships 23
Senior
2020 align=left
align=left All-Japan Senior Championships 10
align=left All-Japan Championships 56
2021 align=left All-Japan Championships 36
align=left All-Japan Event Championships
align=left All-Japan Senior Championships
align=left All-Japan Team Championships
2022 align=left All-Japan Championships
align=left NHK Trophy
align=left 4 7
align=left 7 8 5 8
All-Japan Team Championships
2023 align=left All-Japan Championships
align=left NHK Trophy
align=left All-Japan Event Championships 7
align=left 4
align=left 8 6
align=left All-Japan Team Championships7
2024 align=left All-Japan Championships
align=left NHK Trophy
[38]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: July 18, 2024 . Olympics: Japan women's gymnastics captain Shoko Miyata to leave team over smoking . 2024-07-19 . Kyodo News+.
  2. Web site: Miyata Shoko . . 1 November 2022.
  3. Web site: International Gymnix 2018 Results Junior Cup . Japan Gymnastics Association . 23 May 2024 . 12 March 2018.
  4. Web site: 15th Junior Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships Jakarta, Indonesia 25-28 April 2018 . Japan Gymnastics Association . 23 May 2024 . 28 April 2018.
  5. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2019 All-Japan Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 28 April 2019.
  6. Web site: 1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships Gyor (HUN), 27 June - 30 June 2019 Women's Team Final Ranking . . . 23 May 2024 . 28 June 2019.
  7. Web site: 1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships Gyor (HUN), 27 June - 30 June 2019 Women's All-Around Final Ranking . . . 23 May 2024 . 28 June 2019.
  8. Web site: 1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships Gyor (HUN), 27 June - 30 June 2019 Women's Vault Qualification . . . 23 May 2024 . 28 June 2019.
  9. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2019 All-Japan Junior Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 20 August 2019.
  10. Web site: Metcalfe . Jeff . Jade Carey wraps up Melbourne World Cup with floor exercise win . . 23 May 2024 . 20 February 2020.
  11. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2020 All-Japan Senior Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 22 September 2020.
  12. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2020 All-Japan Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 12 December 2020.
  13. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2021 All-Japan Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 17 April 2021.
  14. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2021 All-Japan Event Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 8 June 2021.
  15. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2021 All-Japan Senior Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 27 September 2021.
  16. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2021 All-Japan Team Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 21 December 2021.
  17. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2022 All-Japan Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 23 April 2022.
  18. Web site: 9th Senior Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships Doha, Qatar . Japan Gymnastics Association . 23 May 2024.
  19. Web site: Martin . Paul . 'Now we can go for a medal': Miyata raises Japan's expectations . Yahoo Finance . 1 November 2022 . 30 October 2022.
  20. Web site: 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Liverpool (GBR), 29 October - 6 November 2022 Women's Team Final . . . 6 November 2022 . 2 . 1 November 2022.
  21. Web site: Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade crowned world all-around champion . . 6 November 2022 . 3 November 2022.
  22. Web site: 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Liverpool (GBR), 29 October - 6 November 2022 Women's Event Finals . . . 23 May 2024.
  23. Web site: Morrison . Chloe . Ellie Black wins silver at Artistic Gymnastics World Championships . . 6 November 2022 . 6 November 2022.
  24. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2022 All-Japan Team Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 12 December 2022.
  25. Web site: 体操女子の新エース・宮田笙子、4月から順大に進学「体操だけでなく人間力も高めていけるよう」 . New female gymnast Shoko Miyata to enter Juntendo University in April "so I can improve not only my gymnastics skills but also my humanity" . . 23 May 2024 . ja . 22 February 2023.
  26. Web site: Ogawa . Kanta . 全日本選手権2位で流した涙のワケ 体操女子エース宮田笙子 . The reason behind the tears shed by female gymnast Shoko Miyata after coming in second at the All Japan Championships . . 23 May 2024 . 3 May 2023.
  27. Web site: 宮田笙子がNHK杯2連覇 2月右かかと疲労骨折のエースが意地の逆転 2位岸、3位深沢、4位渡部までが世界選手権代表に内定 . Shoko Miyata wins the NHK Trophy for the second consecutive year. The ace who suffered a stress fracture in her right heel in February made a determined comeback. 2nd place Kishi, 3rd place Fukazawa, and 4th place Watanabe have been selected to represent Japan at the World Championships. . Daily Sports . 23 May 2024 . ja . 20 May 2023.
  28. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2023 All-Japan Event Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 11 June 2023.
  29. Web site: Crumlish. John. With a haul of nine golds, Chinese gymnasts dominate World University Games. 6 August 2023. 23 May 2024. International Gymnast Magazine.
  30. Web site: 体操日本女子がパリ五輪出場権 世界選手権で予選8位 . Japanese gymnastics girls qualify for Paris Olympics, 8th place in qualifying at world championships . Nihon Keizai Shimbun . 19 May 2024 . Japanese . 3 October 2023.
  31. Web site: 52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Antwerp (BEL), 30 September - 8 October 2023 Women's Vault Final . . . 23 May 2024 . 7 October 2023.
  32. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . 2023 All-Japan Team Championships Results . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024 . 29 November 2023.
  33. Web site: 初優勝は宮田笙子 パリ五輪切符に前進 2位岸里奈、3位中村遥香…体操全日本女子決勝 . First win: Shoko Miyata advances to Paris Olympics ticket; 2nd place: Rina Kishi; 3rd place: Haruka Nakamura... All Japan Women's Gymnastics Finals . . 19 May 2024 . ja . 13 April 2024.
  34. Web site: Shintaro . Kano . NHK Trophy 2024: Miyata Shoko overcomes pain to lead women's competition after day 1 . . 23 May 2024 . 16 May 2024.
  35. Web site: Kano . Shintaro . NHK Trophy 2024: Miyata Shoko Romps to Third Successive Women's Title - and a Gymnastics Quota at Paris 2024 . 18 May 2024 . 18 May 2024 . International Olympic Committee.
  36. Web site: NEWS . KYODO . Olympics: Japan women's gymnastics captain Shoko Miyata to leave team over smoking . 2024-07-19 . Kyodo News+.
  37. Web site: Japanese gymnast set to miss Olympics for smoking . 2024-07-19 . BBC Sport.
  38. Web site: Hopkins . Lauren . Miyata Shoko . The Gymternet . 23 May 2024.