Yayoi Urano (浦野 弥生, Urano Yayoi, born 30 March 1969) is a retired Japanese Wrestler and Judoka.[1] She won six gold medals and one silver medal in three weight classes (65, 70, and 75 kg) at the World Wrestling Championships from 1990 to 1996.[1][2][3]
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | Japanese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | 30 March 1969 (1969-03-30) (age 55)[1] Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 169 cm (5 ft 7 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Urano was involved in track and field at Nakanobu Gakuen High School (中延学園高校) , as her father was a shot putter.[1][2] After entering Nippon Sport Science University, she started Judo.[1][3] She became captain of the Judo club and won the 61 kg weight class at the Tokyo University Championships.[1] Furthermore, she also started Wrestling at the suggestion of Miyuu Yamamoto's father, Ikuei Yamamoto, who was a coach of the university wrestling team.[2][3] In 1990, two years after starting wrestling, she won her first World Championships in the 75kg weight class.[2][3] In 1991, she won the 70 kg weight class at the World ChampionshipsinTokyo.[1][2] She was second at the 1992 World Wrestling Championships, but won for the third time at the 1993 World Wrestling Championships.[1][2] She then moved down to the 65kg weight class and won the World Championships for three consecutive years starting in 1994.[1][2] She was with the sushi company Kyōtaru (京樽), but when the company went bankrupt, she went to Canada to study at the University of Alberta.[3] There she married Japanese-Canadian wrestler Odagaki.[3][4][5] Then she retired, partly due to a knee injury.[1][3] In 2007, she became the second woman to be inducted into the UWW (then FILA) Hall of Fame.[3][5] in 2013, Urano became a member of the UWW (then FILA) Women and Sport Commission.[6]