#WrestleBelgrade

Japanese legends head Class of 2022 inductees into UWW Hall of Fame

Friday, September 9, 2022 - 16:25 By United World Wrestling Press

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BELGRADE, Serbia (September 9) --- Superstars Saori YOSHIDA and Kaori ICHO, who combined for seven Olympic and 23 world championship gold medals and inspired the next generation of Japanese women that continue to dominate the sport, were among nine immortals inducted into the UWW Hall of Fame on Friday.

Two Greco-Roman wrestlers, a pair of American brothers in freestyle, another Japanese woman, one referee and one coach also gained a place in the shrine to wrestling greatness during a ceremony held in Belgrade, Serbia, as a prelude to this year's World Championships starting Saturday.

The inductees will be permanently recognized on the UWW website, at the UWW headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, and in the international wing of the USA Hall of Fame located in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Yoshida and Icho, who were both among the four inaugural Olympic champions when women's wrestling was added to the Olympic program at Athens 2004, were appropriately selected in the Legends category.

Yoshida struck gold in three straight Olympics and an unprecedented 13 World Championships, mostly at 55kg. Japan's flag-bearer at the London 2012 Olympics, Yoshida put together a streak of 119 consecutive wins in individual tournaments, a run that ended in the final match of her career that left her with the silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Her only two other losses to non-Japanese opponents came at World Cup team events.

Icho made history when she became the first wrestler and the first female athlete in any sport in Olympic history to win four consecutive gold medals, not to mention winning 10 world titles. She competed at 63kg for much of her career before moving down to 58kg when that became an Olympic weight class (now 57kg).

After Icho's epic victory at the Rio 2016 Olympics for her fourth gold, she was named a recipient of the People's Honor Award, used by the Japanese government to honor individuals in sports, entertainment and culture whose accomplishments have inspired society. Yoshida received the award in 2012 after winning her 13th straight world title.

The new Hall of Fame members in the Greco-Roman category are Pertti UKKOLA of Finland and Gheorghe BERCEANU of Romania, both winners of Olympic and world golds.

Ukkola won the gold at 57kg at the Montreal 1976 Olympics, and captured the world title the following year. He also won two world bronzes in his career, in 1975 and 1981. Berceanu made the top of the Olympic podium at Munich 1972 at 48kg, then took the silver at Montreal 1976. The Romanian won world titles in 1969 and 1970, and a silver medal in 1975, and was also a three-time European champion.

In Freestyle, American brothers John and Ben PETERSON will enter the Hall together. At Munich 1972, Ben, the younger of the two by two years, won the gold at 90kg and John the silver at 82kg. Four years later at Montreal 1976, they reversed that finish, with John taking a gold and Ben settling for the silver. Both brothers also won one silver and one bronze at the World Championships, while John had three World Cup golds and Ben had one gold and two silvers.

The Women's Wrestling inductee is Japan's Hitomi OBARA, the London 2012 Olympic champion at 48kg and an eight-time world champion. She won all but the last of her world under her maiden name of SAKAMOTO, and almost all at 51kg.

In the Coaches category, the newest Hall member is Yuri SHAKMURADOV of Russia. A 1970 world champion and three-time European champion himself, he coached 16 wrestlers, both male and female, to Olympic gold medals between 1976 and 2012.

The new inductee in the Referees category is Orestes MOLINA, who officiated at Olympics in four different decades. A long-time instructor and head referee, he held the position of vice-president of the FILA/UWW Referee Commission from 2013 to 2016. He called matches at Olympics in 1980, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Obituary

Japanese legend and Olympic champ Obara passes away aged 44

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

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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.

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.