Wikipedia

Mai Murakami

Mai Murakami (村上茉愛, Murakami Mai; born 5 August 1996) is a Japanese retired artistic gymnast and Olympic medalist. She won a gold medal on the floor exercise at the 2017 World Championships, becoming the first Japanese female gymnast to win a world title in 63 years. She also won the floor exercise title at the 2021 World Championships and won the all-around silver medal at the 2018 World Championships. She represented Japan at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, winning a bronze medal on the floor exercise in the latter. This made her the first Japanese female gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal.

Mai Murakami
Murakami at the 2018 World Championships
Personal information
Born (1996-08-05) 5 August 1996 (age 29)
Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan
Height1.48 m (4 ft 10 in)[1]
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country
represented		Japan Japan
(2010–2021)
College teamNippon Sport Science University
ClubYukio Iketani Gymnastics Club
Head coach(es)Kazukuni Ohno
Retired24 October 2021
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Floor exercise
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Montreal Floor exercise
Gold medal – first place 2021 Kitakyushu Floor exercise
Silver medal – second place 2018 Doha All-around
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Doha Floor exercise
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Kitakyushu Balance beam
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
All-Around World Cup 1 1 1

Gymnastics career

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Murakami joined Yukio Iketani's gymnastics club during elementary school. In 2010, she won the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise titles at the National Junior High School Championships. She also won the floor exercise title at the senior-level All-Japan Championships and was added to the national team for the first time.[2][3] She missed most of the 2011 season due to a knee injury.[4]

2012–2013

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Murakami competed at the 2012 All-Japan Championships, where she placed 11th in the all-around but won the floor exercise title.[4][5] She was not named to the 2012 Olympic team.[6] Murakami competed at the 2012 Stuttgart World Cup where Japan finished second to Russia.[7]

Murakami competed at the 2013 City of Jesolo Trophy, where she won bronze with the Japanese team and placed 22nd in the all-around.[8] She finished third in the all-around at the All-Japan Championships, behind Natsumi Sasada and Yu Minobe.[9] She then finished fourth on the floor exercise at the 2013 World Championships.[4]

2014–2015

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Murakami competed at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships, placing fourth with the team, sixth on the floor exercise, seventh on the uneven bars and balance beam, and ninth in the all-around.[10][11] She then placed sixth in the all-around at the All-Japan Championships and fourth at the NHK Cup.[12][13] She secured a berth for the 2014 World Championships team by winning the floor exercise title at the All-Japan Event Championships.[2] At the World Championships, she helped Japan advance into the team final and finish eighth.[14] After the World Championships, she finished the season by placing fifth in the all-around at the Glasgow World Cup and then winning the vault and floor exercise events at the Toyota International.[15][16]

At the 2015 All-Japan Championships, Murakami placed tenth in the all-around,[17] and she placed eighth in the all-around at the NHK Cup.[18] Due to these results, she was initially named as the second alternate for the 2015 World Championships team,[2] who subsequently replaced an injured Yuki Uchiyama with Murakami[19][20] and placed fifth in the team final.[21] Murakami's sixth-placed finish in the all-around was the best result by a Japanese woman since 2009.[19][22]

2016–2017

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Murakami began the 2016 Olympic season at the American Cup, where she placed sixth in the all-around.[23] She then won her first all-around title at the All-Japan Championships.[24] Then at the NHK Cup, she finished second in the all-around behind Asuka Teramoto.[25] She was then named to represent Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics along with Teramoto, Aiko Sugihara, Yuki Uchiyama, and Sae Miyakawa.[26] The team finished fourth in the team final.[27] Individually, Murakami placed 14th in the all-around final and seventh in the floor exercise final.[28][29]

Murakami won her second consecutive All-Japan all-around title in 2017.[30] She also won the all-around at the NHK Cup and was then automatically named to the World Championship team along with Aiko Sugihara.[31] She then won silver on the floor exercise and placed fifth on vault at the All-Japan Event Championships.[32] At the World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, she qualified first into the all-around final.[33] However, she fell off the balance beam in the final and placed fourth, one-tenth of a point behind the bronze medalist, Russia's Elena Eremina.[34] She bounced back in the floor exercise finals, where she placed first ahead of Jade Carey and Claudia Fragapane.[35] She is Japan's first World gold medalist on this event, and Japan's second World gold medalist on any women's gymnastics event, after Keiko Tanaka-Ikeda won the gold on the balance beam in 1954.[19][36][37] Afterward, she won gold on floor and bronze on vault at the Toyota International.[38]

2018–2019

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Murakami finished second in the all-around at the 2018 American Cup, behind Morgan Hurd.[39][40] She then won the all-around at the Tokyo World Cup.[41] She also won the all-around at both the All-Japan Championships and the NHK Cup.[42][43] At the All-Japan Event Championships, she won gold on the balance beam and floor exercise.[44] At the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, the Japanese team finished in sixth place.[45] Individually, she won the silver medal in the all-around final, behind Simone Biles.[46] It was the first women’s all-around silver medal in Japan’s history.[47] She then won the bronze medal in the floor exercise final, behind Biles and Hurd.[48][49]

Murakami won a bronze medal in the all-around at the 2019 American Cup behind Americans Leanne Wong and Grace McCallum.[50] Murakami missed the NHK Cup due to a back injury, and because of this, Murakami was deemed ineligible to make the Japanese team for the 2019 World Championships.[19][51] Her petition to be added to the team was denied by the Japan Gymnastics Association.[52]

2020–2021

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In February 2020, it was announced that Murakami would represent Japan at the Tokyo World Cup in April.[53] However, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[54] She returned to competition in September at the All-Japan Senior Championships, where she won gold in the all-around. In addition, she won the vault and floor exercise gold medals.[55]

After winning the all-around titles at the 2021 All-Japan Championships and the NHK Trophy, Murakami was selected to represent Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was named team captain.[51] The team finished fifth in the team final,[56] and Murakami also placed fifth in the all-around final.[57] In the floor exercise final, she tied with Angelina Melnikova for the bronze medal.[58] She became the first female Japanese gymnast to win an individual medal at the Olympics.[59] This was also only the second time that Japan had won an Olympic medal on any women's gymnastics event, since winning bronze in the team competition at the 1964 Olympics, which were also held in Tokyo.[59]

Murakami announced in advance of the 2021 World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, that it would be the final competition of her career.[60][61] There, she won the gold medal on the floor exercise and the bronze medal on the balance beam.[62]

Coaching

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After retiring as an athlete, she began coaching gymnastics at Nippon Sport Science University. She was named the head coach of the Japan women's national artistic gymnastics team in 2024.[63]

Early and personal life

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Murakami was born in Sagamihara, Japan, and began gymnastics when she was two years old.[1] Both of her parents were former gymnasts, and her three siblings all trained in gymnastics as well.[2] As a child, she participated in a children's theatre troupe and also acted in TV dramas.[2][59]

Murakami attended university at the Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo.[1][3] In 2023, she married a men's gymnastics coach, Atsushi Morita, after dating for over six years.[64]

Competitive history

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Competitive history of Mai Murakami[65]
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2012 All-Japan Championships 11
Stuttgart World Cup  
2013 City of Jesolo Trophy   22
All-Japan Championships      
NHK Cup  
World Championships N/a 4
2014 Pacific Rim Championships 4 9 7 7 6
All-Japan Championships 6
NHK Trophy 4
All-Japan Event Championships    
World Championships 8
Glasgow World Cup 5
Toyota International    
2015 All-Japan Championships 10
NHK Trophy 8
All-Japan Event Championships    
All-Japan Student Championships     6    
World Championships 5 6
Toyota International   4
2016 American Cup 6
All-Japan Championships     5    
NHK Trophy     5 19  
All-Japan Event Championships 4  
Olympic Games 4 14 7
All-Japan Team Championships  
Toyota International      
2017 All-Japan Championships     4    
NHK Trophy          
All-Japan Event Championships 5  
All-Japan Student Championships     12  
World Championships N/a 4 4  
All-Japan Team Championships  
Toyota International    
2018 American Cup  
Tokyo World Cup  
All-Japan Championships     4    
NHK Trophy     4    
All-Japan Event Championships    
World Championships 6   R3  
2019 American Cup  
All-Japan Championships          
All-Japan Event Championships  
2020 All-Japan Senior Championships          
All-Japan Championships          
2021 All-Japan Championships  
NHK Trophy  
All-Japan Event Championships    
Olympic Games 5 5 R2  
World Championships N/a    

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Murakami Mai – FIG Athlete Profile". International Gymnastics Federation. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "村上茉愛：ニューヒロインは"ゴムまり娘"、東京五輪で史上初の快挙を目指す" [Murakami Mai: New heroine is "rubber ball girl" aiming for historic feat at Tokyo Olympics]. International Olympic Committee (in Japanese). 21 November 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b "村上 茉愛選手─ 体操競技" [Mai Murakami player─ Gymnastics]. Nippon Sport Science University (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "【世界体操2013】村上茉愛（東京・明星）床運動4位" [[World Gymnastics 2013] Mai Murakami (Tokyo, Myojo) 4th place in floor exercise]. Koukousei Shinbun (in Japanese). 10 November 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  5. ^ "66th Japanese National Championships Tokyo (JPN) 2012 April 8 Artistic Gymnastics Results Individuals Finals Women". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  6. ^ "Japan Names Women's Olympic Team". FloGymnastics. FloSports. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  7. ^ "2012 Stuttgart World Cup". FloGymnastics. FloSports. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  8. ^ "6° Trofeo Città di Jesolo" (PDF). USA Gymnastics (in Italian). all-around. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  9. ^ "67th Japanese Gymnastics Championships Tokyo (JPN) 2013 May 11-12 Artistic Gymnastics Results Women and Men". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  10. ^ "2014 Pacific Rim Championships Team Results" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  11. ^ "2014 Pacific Rim Championships Session WAG Senior Finals" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. pp. 2–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  12. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (9 May 2014). "2014 Japanese Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  13. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (8 June 2014). "2014 NHK Trophy Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  14. ^ "45th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Nanning (CHN) Women's Team Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Larisa Iordache, Oleg Vernaiev double down at Glasgow World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  16. ^ "Japanese gymnasts dominate Toyota International". International Gymnastics Federation. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  17. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (7 May 2015). "2015 Japanese Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  18. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (18 May 2015). "2015 NHK Trophy Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  19. ^ a b c d "Mai Murakami, all-around silver medalist, ineligible for gymnastics worlds". NBC Sports. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  20. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (22 October 2015). "Japan's Podium Training". The Gymternet. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  21. ^ "46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Glasgow (GBR) Women's Team Final" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. FIG. 27 October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  22. ^ "Simone Biles wins historic third consecutive World All-around title". International Gymnastics Federation. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  23. ^ "2016 AT&T American Cup" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  24. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (1 April 2016). "2016 All-Japan Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  25. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (4 May 2016). "2016 NHK Trophy Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  26. ^ Wijangco, Amanda (27 June 2016). "Japan Names Women's Olympic Team". FloGymnastics. FloSports. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  27. ^ "Women's Olympic gymnastics: USA win gold in team final – as it happened". The Guardian. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  28. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics Women's Individual All-Around Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Rio 2016. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  29. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics Women's Floor Exercise Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Rio 2016. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  30. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (7 April 2017). "2017 All-Japan Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  31. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (20 May 2017). "Murakami, Sugihara Named to Japan's Worlds Team". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  32. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (25 June 2017). "2017 All-Japan Event Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  33. ^ Winters, Max (4 October 2017). "Murakami finishes top of women's all-around qualification at Artistic Gymnastics World Championships". Inside the Games. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  34. ^ "Morgan Hurd continues U.S. winning streak in World All-around competition". International Gymnastics Federation. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  35. ^ "47th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2017 Montréal (CAN) Women's Floor Exercise Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  36. ^ "村上茉愛がゆかで初の金メダル 体操世界選手権" [Mai Murakami wins her first gold medal in floor exercise at the World Gymnastics Championships]. NHK (in Japanese). 8 October 2017. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  37. ^ "Faces of Gymnastics: Mai Murakami on a mission to show the strength of Japanese women power". International Gymnastics Federation. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  38. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (10 December 2017). "2017 Toyota International Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  39. ^ "History repeated as Chicago sees another home double". International Gymnastics Federation. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  40. ^ "2018 American Cup Meet Results" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. 3 March 2018. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  41. ^ Lawrence, Blythe (14 April 2018). "Trinity Thomas Wins Tokyo World Cup Silver And Secures U.S. Women The Season's Team World Cup Title". Team USA. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  42. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (6 May 2018). "Three-peat for Murakami at All-Japan". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  43. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (21 May 2018). "2018 NHK Trophy Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  44. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (8 July 2018). "2018 All-Japan Event Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  45. ^ "48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha (QAT), 25 October – 3 November 2018 Women's Team Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  46. ^ "48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha (QAT), 25 October – 3 November 2018 Women's All-Around Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  47. ^ "Magical Murakami captures hearts and minds with historic display". International Gymnastics Federation. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  48. ^ "48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha (QAT), 25 October – 3 November 2018 Women's Floor Exercise Final Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  49. ^ "Five gymnasts take titles as Doha Worlds end". International Gymnastics Federation. 3 November 2018. Archived from the original on 11 June 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  50. ^ "Mai Murakami finishes third at American Cup". The Japan Times. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  51. ^ a b "I did it MAI way: Murakami leaving everything on the podium for Japan, her teammates - and herself". International Olympic Committee. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  52. ^ "Mai Murakami left out of the Worlds team selection". Gymnovosti. 8 June 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  53. ^ "Simone Biles heads star-studded field for Tokyo World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 14 February 2020.
  54. ^ @FIG_media (17 March 2020). "Japan Gymnastics Association has decided to cancel the #Tokyo All-Around World Cup that was scheduled on 4–5 April 2020" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  55. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (22 September 2020). "2020 All-Japan Senior Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  56. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics: Women's Team Final – Results" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  57. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics: Women's All-Around Final – Results" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  58. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics – Final Results". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  59. ^ a b c "村上茉愛、子役で鍛えた舞台度胸で銅 体操女子57年ぶり五輪メダル＜種目別床＞" [Mai Murakami wins bronze medal in floor exercise, first Olympic medal in women's gymnastics in 57 years, thanks to her stage courage honed as a child actress]. Tokyo Shimbun (in Japanese). 2 August 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  60. ^ Kano, Shintaro (15 October 2021). "Murakami Mai: "I'm going into the Worlds thinking this is the end for me"". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  61. ^ "Urara Ashikawa and retiring Mai Murakami win gymnastics golds". The Japan Times. 25 October 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  62. ^ "Newcomer Hu takes two; Murakami, Ashikawa golden too as Worlds end". International Gymnastics Federation. 24 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  63. ^ "史上最年少28歳で抜てき 村上茉愛氏が体操女子代表の強化本部長に就任 東京五輪でゆか銅メダル" [Mai Murakami, the youngest ever to be appointed as head of the women's gymnastics team at age 28, wins bronze medal in floor exercise at the Tokyo Olympics]. Nippon Television (in Japanese). 8 November 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  64. ^ "村上茉愛さん結婚 体操トレーナー森田敦士さんと「暖かく見守って頂けると」" [Mai Murakami marries gymnastics trainer Atsushi Morita, "I hope you will continue to watch over me warmly"]. Daily Sports (in Japanese). 24 February 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  65. ^ "Murakami Mai". The Gymternet. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
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