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Shohei Ono (大野将平, Ōno Shōhei, born 3 February 1992) is a Japanese retired judoka.
Ono is regarded as one of judo's top fighters, having won two Olympic gold medals, three World Championships and five Grand Slams. He is the lightweight division's most dominant fighter, having won in every major championship he competed since 2015. Ono specializes in osoto gari (having written his masters' thesis on it) and uchimata. He is known for his classical technique and all ippon style, holding one of the highest ippon rates in judo. Ono is also one of the most searched judokas on the Internet.
Career
Breakthrough: Grand Slam Tokyo 2012
Ono cemented his place as one of judo's biggest ippon players by winning the prestigious Grand Slam in Tokyo all by ippon. He defeated Lee Shing Him, Yertugan Torenov and Khashbaataryn Tsagaanbaatar in the Round of 32, quarter-final and semi-final by ippon, and Etienne Briand by ippon and two yukos in the Round of 16. He met then reigning world champion and Olympic silver medalist Riki Nakaya in the final. Ono defeated Nakaya with a stunning ippon by osoto gari, adding to a waza-ari he scored earlier on. This would prove to be a turning point in one of the most heated rivalries in the lightweight division, with Ono breaking Nakaya's dominance in the division. The rivalry between the two Japanese fighters would go on for six years.
Grand Slam Paris 2013
Ono continued his ippon streak at the Grand Slam in Paris, where he defeated Luiz Alcaraz del Rey and Dirk Van Tichelt by ippon in the Round of 32 and quarter-final, and Ljubisa Kovacevic by ippon and yuko in the Round of 16. His run for a consecutive Grand Slam win ended in the semi-final, where he lost against Tsagaanbaatar by waza-ari. With 30 seconds on the clock, the Mongol threw Ono for waza-ari with Ono's signature uchi mata. The match was already sealed in the former's favour with two shidos against Ono. The Japanese then showed his ippon style again in the bronze medal contest against Benjamin Darbelet with an uchi mata ippon in just eight seconds.
Rise to prominence: 2013 World Championships
Ono became Japan's third lightweight champion in four years after Hiroyuki Akimoto and Nakaya at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro. He faced off against Korea's double World Champion Wang Ki-chun in the Round of 64. Fifteen seconds into the fight, Wang attempted a drop morote seoi nage, however was unsuccessful in gaining a score. Ono countered with a juji gatame, but Wang easily escaped by lifting Ono off the ground. Wang then unsuccessfully threw Ono with the latter's single grip on his sleeve with an uchi mata. In a turn of events, Wang was controversially given four shidos to earn a hansoku make or disqualification, namely for three false attacks and breaking off a grip. He unexpectedly crashed out of the tournament in his first fight.
Ono met Neoklis Skouroumounis in his second fight, and scored a yuko early on with de ashi harai. He sealed the fight with ippon with uchi mata. Ono then faced Miklós Ungvári in the Round of 16, who had a similar fate to Wang. Ungvari picked up four shidos for a hansoku make, in the form of avoiding grips, stepping off the mat, attempting a false attack and passivity. Ono went on against Dex Elmont in the quarter-final, in which he again showed his ippon play. Ono scored first with an osoto gari to ushiro goshi for yuko. Elmont then scored a yuko to level the scores. The fight went to golden score with the fighters on equal grounds with a yuko and two shidos each. Ono defeated Elmont with a harai goshi for ippon, and was through to a semi-final against van Tichelt. Ono was ranked number 15, and van Tichelt thirteen places above him. Ono defeated him for a guaranteed medal with one of his best techniques, osoto gari, for ippon.
Ono was set against Ugo Legrand in the final. Ono attempted a double sleeve uchi mata and gained a yuko. Ono won the World title with a strong hane goshi that scored ippon, defeating Legrand. He was overwhelmed with winning the World title and was moved to tears.
Ono also won the Teams' bronze medal with Japan. In the quarter-final he faced Mirali Sharipov, and continued his dominance as a big ippon fighter by defeating the Uzbek with an osoto gari for waza-ari, and uchi mata for ippon.
2014 Grand Slam Tokyo
He lost to Hiroyuki Akimoto of Japan in the finals.
2016 Olympics
For me, it's the Ono style of judo. What I wanted to do was demonstrate that the Ono style is the strongest judo style – the number one judo style. That certainly was the goal entering the Olympics.
— Ono on his iconic Japanese fighting style
2020 Olympics
Ono won the gold medal in the 73 kg competition at the 2020 Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. In the final, he beat Georgia's Lasha Shavdatuashvili in Golden Score.
Personal life
On 28 May 2013, Ono and four other senior male students in Tenri University’s judo club ordered younger members to slap freshmen in the face. After an investigation, on 5 September, Ono was removed from his post of captain of the club and with the other four were suspended for 30 days.
Competitive record
| Judo Record | |
|---|---|
| Total | 111 (100.0%) |
| Wins | 101 (90.99%) |
| by Ippon | 73 (65.76%) |
| Losses | 10 (9.01%) |
| by Ippon | 3 (2.70%) |
(as of 18 August 2021)
References
- ^ "Judo: 2-time Olympic champion Shohei Ono to switch to coaching". Kyodo News. 15 December 2022. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- "Shohei Ono". JudoInside.com. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- "Shohei ONO". International Judo Federation. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Shohei Ono". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
- "Judo great coming to the UK". British Judo Association. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- "JudoInside – News – Shohei Ono earns respect with Olympic gold in style". judoinside.com. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- "Judo: Defending champion Shohei Ono puts Olympic delay in perspective". english.kyodonews.net. Kyodo News.
- "SuperSport – Olympics". supersport.com. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- "JudoInside – News – Who are the most searched judoka on the planet?". judoinside.com. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- "JudoInside – Video – Riki NAKAYA (JPN) – Shohei ONO (JPN) @ Grand Slam Tokyo 2012". judoinside.com. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- Judo Portal (9 April 2013), Judo Grand Slam Paris 2013 Bronze −73kg DARBELET Benjamin (FRA) – ONO Shohei (JPN), retrieved 28 September 2016
- judofan dertien (31 August 2013), Judo 2013 World Championship Rio de Janeiro: van Tichelt (BEL) – Ono (JPN) [-73kg] semi-final, retrieved 28 September 2016
- JudoTV (29 August 2013), World Judo Championships Rio 2013 Final 73kg LEGRAND Ugo FRA ONO Shohei (JPN), retrieved 28 September 2016
- RebellionMartialArts (4 September 2013), ▶ Shohei Ono[JPN] vs. Mirali Sharipov[UZB] 2013 Judo World Team Championships, retrieved 28 September 2016
- hermes (9 August 2016). "Ono claims one for judo's little guys". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- "2020 Summer Olympics — Judo - Men 73 kg Schedule". 2020 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- Senior judo club members ordered violence The Japan News by the Yomiuri Shimbun, September 13, 2013
- "Judobase.org". judobase.org. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
External links
- Shohei Ono at the International Judo Federation
- Shohei Ono at JudoInside.com
- Shohei Ono at AllJudo.net (in French)
- Shohei Ono at Olympics.com
- Shohei Ono at Olympedia
- Shohei Ono at The-Sports.org
- Shohei Ono on Instagram
| Olympic Champions in Judo – Lightweight Men | |
|---|---|
| 1964: –68 kg • 1972–1976: –63 kg • 1980–1996: –71 kg • 2000–: –73 kg | |
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| World Judo Championships — Men's Lightweight | |
|---|---|
| 1965: −68 kg • 1975–75: −63 kg • 1979–97: −71 kg • 1999–present: −73 kg | |
| |
| List of World Judo Championships medalists in Men's Lightweight |
- 1992 births
- Living people
- Japanese male judoka
- World judo champions
- Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic judoka for Japan
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Olympic medalists in judo
- Olympic gold medalists for Japan
- Olympic silver medalists for Japan
- Judoka at the 2018 Asian Games
- Asian Games gold medalists for Japan
- Asian Games medalists in judo
- Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games
- Sportspeople from Yamaguchi Prefecture
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- 21st-century Japanese sportsmen