Yukiko Inui (乾 友紀子, Inui Yukiko, born 4 December 1990) is a Japanese competitor in synchronised swimming. She won Japan's first gold medal in each the solo technical routine and the solo free routine at a FINA World Aquatics Championships at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships.[1][2] She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the duet event with Megumu Yoshida, and in the team event.[3]
 Yukiko Inui in March 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Japanese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 December 1990 Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 55 kg (121 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Synchronised swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Imura Synchro Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
editYukiko competed in both the women's duet with her partner Chisa Kobayashi, and the women's team events at the 2012 Summer Olympics; she finished in fifth place in both competitions.[4]
Inui has also been a regular competitor at the World Aquatics Championships, taking part in the 2009, 2011 and 2013 tournaments.[5] Her notable podium victories to date include the Asian Games where she has won six silver medals at Guangzhou and Incheon.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won two bronze medals, one in the duet event with Risako Mitsui, and one in the team event.[4]
She won bronze at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in the Solo Technical Event.[6]
At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Inui won the first medal in any sport of the Championships, winning the gold medal in the solo technical routine, with a score of 92.8662 points.[7][8][9][10] Her gold medal was the first for Japan in the event at a FINA World Aquatics Championships and was choreographed to music by fellow Japanese Hideki Togi in the theme of "The legend of Phoenix".[1] In the preliminaries of the solo free routine two days later, she achieved a score of 94.5667 points and qualified for the final ranking first.[11] For the final, she scored 95.3667 points to win the gold medal, another first gold medal for the country of Japan in the event at a FINA World Aquatics Championships.[2][12] Her two gold medals made Japan the third country in the 21st century, after Russia and China, to win multiple gold medals in artistic swimming at a single FINA World Aquatics Championships.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b Croes, Maureen (18 June 2022). "Artistic swimming opens with historic gold medal for Japan | Women's Solo Technical". FINA. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ a b FINA (22 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Solo Free Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ "Artistic Swimming INUI Yukiko". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Yukiko Inui Olympic Results". sports-reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ "BCN2013". Fina Barcelona 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "18th FINA World Championships 2019 Gwangju (KOR) 12 – 28 July 2019" (PDF). omegatiming.com. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- ^ FINA (18 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Solo Technical Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ Alessandro, Aita (18 June 2022). "Nuoto artistico, Mondiali Budapest 2022: Linda Cerruti quarta per mezzo punto nel solo tecnico. Vince la giapponese Inui" (in Italian). OA Sport. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "La japonesa Yukiko Inui se cuelga el oro en la modalidad de solo técnico" (in Spanish). Infobae. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "Arranca el Mundial de natación en Budapest" (in Spanish). Diario AS. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ FINA (20 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Solo Free Preliminary Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ "Japan's Yukiko Inui wins women's solo free in artistic swimming at FINA worlds". China Internet Information Center. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ Croes, Maureen (22 June 2022). "Japan's Yukiko Inui indisputable Solo Champion". FINA. Retrieved 23 June 2022.