Japanese legend and Olympic champ Obara passes away aged 44

Saturday, July 19, 2025 - 11:00 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (July 19) — Legendary Japanese wrestler Hitomi OBARA, the 2012 London Olympic gold medalist at women's 48kg and an eight-time world champion, passed away on Friday, the Japanese media reported on Saturday. She was 44.

The Japan Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where Obara was a women's coach, said it was withholding the cause of death "out of consideration for the privacy and emotions of the bereaved family," according to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Obara, the mother of two elementary school-aged children, was a director in the Japan Wrestling Federation, and had just been appointed in June as a coach of the women's national team for the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics along with fellow former Olympic champion Kaori ICHO.

Obara, who won six of her world titles at 51kg under her maiden name of SAKAMOTO, became a model case for the ups and downs of high-level sports and the ability to overcome grave disappointment. Her victory at the London Olympics, at age 31, came after being denied spots on Japan's team at both of the two previous Olympics by fellow legend Saori YOSHIDA.

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Born in 1981 in the wrestling hotbed of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in northern Japan, Obara went on to attend Chukyo University (now Shigakkan), which she helped turn into a national powerhouse along with Yoshida and fellow Hachinohe native Icho.

"It's hard, it's hard, I can't keep from crying," former Shigakkan and national team coach Kazuhito SAKAE was quoted as telling the Japanese media. "She was a wrestling prodigy. At the least, she was a hard worker with a strong sense of responsibility. She was wrestling's heaven-sent child. I still can't believe it."

Obara won back-to-back world 51kg titles in 1999 and 2000. A serious knee injury would keep her from returning to the world championships until 2005, from which she won four in a row.

In between, she attempted to make the Japanese's squad to the 2004 Athens Olympics, but that dream ended with a loss by fall to Yoshida in the 55kg final at the All-Japan Championships in December 2002. She would only compete once in 2003 before returning in earnest in 2004 and beginning her streak of world titles the following year.

But more disappointment came her way in the qualifying process for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Again it was Yoshida who squashed her dreams, beating her 2-0 (2-0, 4-0) in the 2006 All-Japan final. After the match, Obara sat for hours sobbing in a corner of the warm-up room, a towel draped over her head.

Obara managed to rebound from the defeat to win a playoff for the 51kg spot at the 2007 World Championships, where she won gold No. 5. After adding No. 6 a year later with a run to the gold that included a victory over future Olympic champ Helen MAROULIS (USA), she decided to retire.

But despite all of her success, the lack of a Olympic gold -- or even an appearance, for that matter -- still left a sting that would not abate. That, and the decision of her younger sister Makiko to retire, led her to attempt the difficult path of cutting down to 48kg to make it to London.

Makiko was a world bronze medalist at 48kg in 2005 and 2008, but decided to end her career after placing eighth in 2009. Hitomi had never wanted to displace her sister from the national team, but now the door to 48kg was open.

Her biggest battle may have been with the scale. On the mat, she was as unbeatable as ever, storming to world golds in 2010 and 2011 -- now as Obara after getting married in 2010.

There was one slip-up along the way -- a semifinal loss to So Sim HYANG (PRK) at the 2010 Asian Games that ended her 70-match winning streak in international matches. But she regained her confidence with a decisive win at the All-Japan, and it was with a full head of steam that she headed to the London Olympics, which she had announced would be her swan song.

In London, Obara knocked off defending Olympic champion Carol HUYNH (CAN) in the semifinals before coming from behind in the final to defeat Mariya STADNIK (AZE) 2-1 (0-4, 1-0, 2-0) -- a replay of the gold-medal match at the 2011 worlds.

"If you keep doing what you love and never give up, you can achieve your dream," Obara told students at the junior high school she attended during a visit in January last year.

Upon retiring, Obara joined the staff at the Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where she was also an officer. Among the members she coached were Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO, Himeka TOKUHARA and Masako FURUICHI, who all made Japan's team to this year's World Championships.

In 2022, Obara was inducted into UWW's Hall of Fame along with Yoshida and Icho.

#Grappling

Grappling World Championships 2025 Entries

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 - 11:55 By United World Wrestling Press

NOVI SAD, Serbia (September 30) -- The Grappling World Championships are set to be held in Novi Sad, Serbia from October 14 to 16 at the SPENS Arena.

The three-day tournament will see Grappling action in both men's and women's on September 14. The second day will have competition in both Grappling and Grappling Gi and only Grappling Gi on third day will finish the tournament.

All action will be live on the UWW website and highlights on UWW Grappling Instagram.

Men's Grappling Gi

58kg
Razmik MISAKYAN (ARM)
Farhad BAGIROV (AZE)
Samir BEN BELKACEM (FRA)
Daviti ZEDGINIDZE (GEO)
Alikhan ALSHINBAY (KAZ)
Rakhymzhan TURGANBEK (KAZ)
Zhyldyzbek ABYLBEKOV (KGZ)
Jerzy IZDEBSKI (POL)
Bohdan CHORNEI (UKR)
Joseph DIEHL (USA)
Erik LUKER (USA)

62kg
Rafayel KOSTANYAN (ARM)
Emil VERDIYEV (AZE)
Cedrick BISSOUT SIGNANG (CMR)
Lucas AUBRY (FRA)
Levente VARKONDI (HUN)
Mark BODO (HUN)
MANDEEP (IND)
Bekzat KAZTAYEV (KAZ)
Dmytro BARANOV (UKR)
Vadym SIROSHTAN (UKR)
Andrii TSVYK (UKR)
Asher URBAN HOYER (USA)
Kiryl AHEIKA (UWW)
Ruslan RADZHABKHANOV (UWW)
Magomedbek TEMEEV (UWW)

66kg
Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM)
Cedric EYENGA (CMR)
Giovanni SUAREZ ARTILES (ESP)
Cristofer MARTIN BARRIOS (ESP)
Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA)
Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO)
Adam VERES KOVACS (HUN)
Milan LUKASZ (HUN)
Adlan ASUEV (KAZ)
Nurassyl TURUSPEKOV (KAZ)
Illia SVIATUN (UKR)
Yurii CHERKALIUK (UKR)
Jesse SOSA (USA)
Angel DIAZ (USA)
Artur AGASHIRINOV (UWW)
Magomed MAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Avzal AKHMETOV (UZB)

71kg
Max KAMA (CMR)
Kevin MARTIN TINOCO (ESP)
Francisco ALCALDE TORREBLANCA (ESP)
Samuel CHAGNY (FRA)
Sacha MARGUERITE (FRA)
Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO)
Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER)
Stefanos VAVILIS (GRE)
Davi DIMOPOULOS SAID (GRE)
Mark UJVARI (HUN)
Sandor LAKATOS (HUN)
Chandra PRAKASH (IND)
Zhassulan ZHETPISBAY (KAZ)
Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ)
Piotr DUDZINSKI (POL)
Kacper GARCZYNSKI (POL)
Milos GAJIC (SRB)
Ahmet BASARAN (TUR)
Ivan RIABCHENKO (UKR)
Vadym SKRYNYTSIA (UKR)
Nicolas ARNEL (USA)
Andrei SKOLYSH (UWW)
Zaur AKHMEDOV (UWW)
Said ZAIPULAEV (UWW)
Feruzbek UROKOV (UZB)

77kg
Salomon MAYENGUE (CMR)
Aron HERNANDEZ MONTERO (ESP)
Hector SEPULVEDA PALMA (ESP)
Loan MOUTHON (FRA)
Arthur DEMONCEAUX (FRA)
Zoltan TOTH (HUN)
Csaba SZABO (HUN)
Jatin KUMAR (IND)
Nagaraja KAVADI (IND)
Darkhan TOLYBAYEV (KAZ)
Aziz ALIYEV (KAZ)
Dumitru CEBAN (MDA)
Kamil ROSIAK (POL)
Jakub NAJDEK (POL)
Pavlo MAKSYMCHUK (UKR)
Illia SUKHODIEIEV (UKR)
Rakhim BIBULATOV (UWW)
Abduragim MAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Adolfo SUAREZ ARIAS (VEN)

84kg
Suren KHURDAYAN (ARM)
Hajimurad PURTIYEV (AZE)
Juan SUAREZ MONTESDEOCA (ESP)
Ruslan VALIEV (FRA)
Samy MEZACHE (FRA)
Lukas BRESSMER (GER)
Dimitrios MAVRANTONIS (GRE)
Soma SOLTESZ (HUN)
Christian FRILLICI (ITA)
Adlan MADAYEV (KAZ)
Magzhan MARATKHAN (KAZ)
Cristian TUGULEA (MDA)
Igor DZIAG (POL)
Kacper ROT (POL)
Tanguy DARBELLAY (SUI)
Talha UMAR (TUR)
Mykhailo MUZYCHENKO (UKR)
Daniel SHROCK (USA)
Dzhabrail ISRAPILOV (UWW)
Idris OMAROV (UWW)

92kg
Pablo ESTEPA NIETO (ESP)
Antonio GARCIA CONEJO (ESP)
Wilfried EDMUND (FRA)
Reda MEBTOUCHE (FRA)
Amirani SVIMONISHVILI (GEO)
Leonhard PREIN (GER)
Apostolos KOUGIAMIS MICHOS (GRE)
Konstantinos VAVOURAS (GRE)
Levente LAKY (HUN)
Akos SZEKERES (HUN)
Antonio SALTUPS CARETTO (ITA)
Ruslan ISRAILOV (KAZ)
Ramazan KUSSAINOV (KAZ)
Mantas DAUBLYS (LTU)
Buyannemekh MUNKHSUKH (MGL)
Joris ROOKHUIJZEN (NED)
Mateusz MAZUR (POL)
Aleksandar DUKANOVIC (SRB)
Vladyslav ZENCHENKO (UKR)
Timothy BARR (USA)
Ramazan SHIKHSHABEKOV (UWW)
Alibek SULEIMANOV (UWW)

100kg
Vasif SAFARBAYOV (AZE)
Pavel SLANINA ANTON (ESP)
Saba DJAVAKHICHVILI (FRA)
Herve REDON (FRA)
Ilias BOUKIS (GRE)
Ramazan ABDRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Konstantin LI (KGZ)
Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA)
Yevhenii MURADOV (UKR)
Shamil MAZHIDKHANOV (UWW)
Khasan ZAPIROV (UWW)
Gilberto AYALA RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

130kg
Nizami GAFAROV (AZE)
Abraham COBY MARTINEZ (ESP)
Luc ROUSSEAU (FRA)
Niklas KOPICKI (GER)
Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE)
Arystan AITMOLDIN (KAZ)
Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA)
Ivan SNIHUR (UKR)
Oleksandr KOLDOVSKYI (UKR)
John HANSEN (USA)
Abu GUDANATOV (UWW)
Bilal KURBABAGAMAEV (UWW)

Women’s Grappling Gi

53kg
Lilit DANIELYAN (ARM)
Pernelle ABOMO (CMR)
Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP)
Giulia ANGIOLINI (ITA)
Zuzanna KOWALSKA (POL)
Viktoriia ISAIEVA (UKR)
Evelina FLORIAK (UKR)
Anorbi GRISHINA (UWW)
Radomira OSTANINA (UWW)

58kg
Minerva MONTERO PEREZ (ESP)
MAMTA (IND)
Pinky SHARMA (IND)
Shynar UZBEKOVA (KAZ)
Nuraiym MUNAITBAS (KAZ)
Daria BRZOZOWSKA (POL)
Magdalena GIEC (POL)
Eda AYDEMIR (TUR)
Tetiana ASTAKHOVA (UKR)
Breanna STIKKELMAN (USA)
Rachel GUTIERREZ (USA)
Alina KOPEIKINA (UWW)
Kseniia PASTUKHOVA GUBAIDULINA (UWW)

64kg
Mia MONTESINOS PERDOMO (ESP)
Ellen OBERBACH (GER)
Zafeiria PANAGIOTARAKOU (GRE)
Szabina SZALAY (HUN)
Emma ROSINI (ITA)
Milana MURGUZOVA (KAZ)
Adrianna MAZUR (POL)
Sylwia WIERZBOWSKA (POL)
Andela NESOVANOVIC (SRB)
Snezhana MORAR (UKR)
Viktoriia SYNIAVINA SERHIIENKO (UKR)
Sheliah LINDSEY (USA)
Emily HAUSER (USA)
Renata IAKUBOVA (UWW)
Alsu IANSHINA (UWW)

71kg
Fanny MOUNGOUN (CMR)
Daniella SANTANA FABELO (ESP)
Alycia QUENEE (FRA)
Mendy MACATIS (GER)
Sandra TRIEBEL (GER)
Maja SALAMON (POL)
Anna KOTIUK (UKR)
Sarah PAUL (USA)
Christina HANSEN (USA)
Valentina PAVLOVA (UWW)
Anna REMNEVA (UWW)

90kg
Justyna SITKO (POL)
Tatiana KABANOVA (UWW)
Alena VLASOVA (UWW)

Men’s Grappling No-Gi

62kg
Rafayel KOSTANYAN (ARM)
Emil VERDIYEV (AZE)
Lucas AUBRY (FRA)
Mark BODO (HUN)
Levente VARKONDI (HUN)
MANDEEP (IND)
Talgat ZHUMAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Adlan ASUEV (KAZ)
Dmytro BARANOV (UKR)
Andrii TSVYK (UKR)
Asher URBAN HOYER (USA)
Kiryl AHEIKA (UWW)
Ruslan RADZHABKHANOV (UWW)
Magomedbek TEMEEV (UWW)

66kg
Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM)
Giovanni SUAREZ ARTILES (ESP)
Cristofer MARTIN BARRIOS (ESP)
Anthony DE OLIVEIRA (FRA)
Giorgi RAZMADZE (GEO)
Adam VERES KOVACS (HUN)
Milan LUKASZ (HUN)
Bekzat KAPASHOV (KAZ)
Nurassyl TURUSPEKOV (KAZ)
Illia SVIATUN (UKR)
Yurii CHERKALIUK (UKR)
Jesse SOSA (USA)
Angel DIAZ (USA)
Khabib ATLUEV (UWW)
Magomed SHAKHBANOV (UWW)

71kg
Kevin MARTIN TINOCO (ESP)
Francisco ALCALDE TORREBLANCA (ESP)
Samuel CHAGNY (FRA)
Sacha MARGUERITE (FRA)
Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO)
Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER)
Stefanos VAVILIS (GRE)
Davi DIMOPOULOS SAID (GRE)
Mark UJVARI (HUN)
Chandra PRAKASH (IND)
Federico ROTONI (ITA)
Zhassulan ZHETPISBAY (KAZ)
Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ)
Kenzo BIYONG (NED)
Piotr DUDZINSKI (POL)
Kacper GARCZYNSKI (POL)
Milos GAJIC (SRB)
Jalol MAMADALIBEKOV (TJK)
Ahmet BASARAN (TUR)
Ivan RIABCHENKO (UKR)
Vadym SKRYNYTSIA (UKR)
Nicolas ARNEL (USA)
Andrei SKOLYSH (UWW)
Apandi AMAGAEV (UWW)
Kurban KADIEV (UWW)

77kg
Aron HERNANDEZ MONTERO (ESP)
Hector SEPULVEDA PALMA (ESP)
Loan MOUTHON (FRA)
Arthur DEMONCEAUX (FRA)
Angelos NIKOLOPOULOS (GRE)
Zoltan TOTH (HUN)
Csaba SZABO (HUN)
Jatin KUMAR (IND)
Nagaraja KAVADI (IND)
Sayyed CHERDEYAN (IRI)
Darkhan TOLYBAYEV (KAZ)
Dumitru CEBAN (MDA)
Kamil ROSIAK (POL)
Jakub NAJDEK (POL)
Pavlo MAKSYMCHUK (UKR)
Illia SUKHODIEIEV (UKR)
Sam SCHWARTZAPFEL (USA)
Gazimagomed GAZIEV (UWW)
Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UWW)
Adolfo SUAREZ ARIAS (VEN)

84kg
Suren KHURDAYAN (ARM)
Hajimurad PURTIYEV (AZE)
Juan SUAREZ MONTESDEOCA (ESP)
Ruslan VALIEV (FRA)
Samy MEZACHE (FRA)
Beka KARTVELISHVILI (GEO)
Nika MUSHKUDIANI (GEO)
Lukas BRESSMER (GER)
Leonhard PREIN (GER)
Dimitrios MAVRANTONIS (GRE)
Kleinto ZOLLANI (GRE)
Lorinc NAGY (HUN)
Christian FRILLICI (ITA)
Maxat TOLENDI (KAZ)
Rauan ZHAKENULY (KAZ)
Cristian TUGULEA (MDA)
Igor DZIAG (POL)
Kacper ROT (POL)
Tanguy DARBELLAY (SUI)
Talha UMAR (TUR)
Mykhailo MUZYCHENKO (UKR)
Dmytrii TKACHENKO (UKR)
Giuseppe LAMANNA (USA)
Daniel SHROCK (USA)
Amirkhan GITINOMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Davud MAGOMEDOV (UWW)

92kg
Pablo ESTEPA NIETO (ESP)
Wilfried EDMUND (FRA)
Reda MEBTOUCHE (FRA)
Amirani SVIMONISHVILI (GEO)
Apostolos KOUGIAMIS MICHOS (GRE)
Fotios TZAFERIS (GRE)
Levente LAKY (HUN)
Akos SZEKERES (HUN)
Alessandro ARDINI (ITA)
Antonio SALTUPS CARETTO (ITA)
Ruslan ISRAILOV (KAZ)
Mantas DAUBLYS (LTU)
Buyannemekh MUNKHSUKH (MGL)
Joris ROOKHUIJZEN (NED)
Mateusz MAZUR (POL)
Aleksandar DUKANOVIC (SRB)
Vladyslav ZENCHENKO (UKR)
Anthony ROBINSON (USA)
Timothy BARR (USA)
Murad ABDULATIPOV (UWW)
Islam TAPPASKHANOV (UWW)

100kg
Vasif SAFARBAYOV (AZE)
Pavel SLANINA ANTON (ESP)
Herve REDON (FRA)
Saba DJAVAKHICHVILI (FRA)
Aleksandre TEVZADZE (GEO)
Ilias BOUKIS (GRE)
Georgios APOSTOLOU (GRE)
Ramazan ABDRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Yerulan TOLEUBEKOV (KAZ)
Konstantin LI (KGZ)
Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA)
Armin DOUZALI (NOR)
Yevhenii MURADOV (UKR)
Mukhamed URUSOV (UWW)
Khasan ZAPIROV (UWW)

Women’s Grappling No-Gi

53kg
Lilit DANIELYAN (ARM)
Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP)
Giulia ANGIOLINI (ITA)
Zuzanna KOWALSKA (POL)
Viktoriia ISAIEVA (UKR)
Evelina FLORIAK (UKR)
Anorbi GRISHINA (UWW)
Valeriia SHUVALOVA (UWW)

58kg
Minerva MONTERO PEREZ (ESP)
Ellen OBERBACH (GER)
Lili RACZ (HUN)
MAMTA (IND)
Pinky SHARMA (IND)
Shynar UZBEKOVA (KAZ)
Nuraiym MUNAITBAS (KAZ)
Daria BRZOZOWSKA (POL)
Magdalena GIEC (POL)
Eda AYDEMIR (TUR)
Tetiana ASTAKHOVA (UKR)
Breanna STIKKELMAN (USA)
Rachel GUTIERREZ (USA)
Varvara MASHKINA (UWW)
Kseniia PASTUKHOVA GUBAIDULINA (UWW)

64kg
Mia MONTESINOS PERDOMO (ESP)
Mendy MACATIS (GER)
Zafeiria PANAGIOTARAKOU (GRE)
Szabina SZALAY (HUN)
Emma ROSINI (ITA)
Milana MURGUZOVA (KAZ)
Adrianna MAZUR (POL)
Sylwia WIERZBOWSKA (POL)
Andela NESOVANOVIC (SRB)
Snezhana MORAR (UKR)
Viktoriia SYNIAVINA SERHIIENKO (UKR)
Sheliah LINDSEY (USA)
Emily HAUSER (USA)
Alsu IANSHINA (UWW)
Veronika KARAKHONOVA (UWW)

71kg
Daniella SANTANA FABELO (ESP)
Alycia QUENEE (FRA)
Sandra TRIEBEL (GER)
Eleni CHRYSIKAKI (GRE)
Maja SALAMON (POL)
Anna KOTIUK (UKR)
Sarah PAUL (USA)
Christina HANSEN (USA)
Valentina PAVLOVA (UWW)
Anna REMNEVA (UWW)

90kg
Justyna SITKO (POL)
Tatiana KABANOVA (UWW)
Alena VLASOVA (UWW)

Japanese legend and Olympic champ Obara passes away aged 44

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Grappling World Championships 2025 Entries