Olympic Wrestling Champ Yoshida Announces Retirement

January 9, 2019

Tokyo--Saori Yoshida, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in women's wrestling, announced her retirement from competition on Tuesday.

"I decided to end my 33-year career as wrestler," Yoshida, 36, said in a Twitter post.

Yoshida, known for her high-speed tackles, garnered three straight Olympic gold medals, in the 2004 Games in Athens, where women's wrestling was adopted as an official competition for the first time, the 2008 Games in Beijing and the 2012 Games in London.

She also won 13 consecutive world championships, thus collecting 16 straight titles in the international arena.

In the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Yoshida served as captain of the Japanese delegation and grabbed a silver medal.

She won Japan's national championships for 10 years in a row from 2002, and scored 119 straight victories in official matches from 2001 to 2008.

In recognition of her impressive achievements, the Japanese government presented the People's Honor Award to Yoshida in 2012. Jiji Press