Hitomi Hatakeda

Hitomi Hatakeda (畠田 瞳, Hatakeda Hitomi, born 1 September 2000)[1] is a Japanese female artistic gymnast.[2] She is best known for winning four gold medals at the 2019 Summer Universiade[3][4] and an all-around bronze medal at the 2020 American Cup.[5]

Hitomi Hatakeda
Country represented	Japan
Born	September 1, 2000 Tokyo
Height	155 cm (5 ft 1 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior international elite
Club	Central Meguro
Head coach(es)	Hikaru Tanaka
Medal record Representing  Japan Summer Universiade 2019 Naples Team 2019 Naples All-Around 2019 Naples Uneven Bars 2019 Naples Balance Beam

Career

Hatakeda began gymnastics at age eight because her parents encouraged her to try the sport. Her parents were both gymnasts and her younger sister, Chiaki, is also an elite gymnast.[1][6] Her father Yoshiaki Hatakeda is an Olympic bronze medalist in gymnastics, winning team bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.[1][6][7] Her mother Yukiko is Hatakeda's personal coach.[6]

Hatakeda joined Japan's national team in 2017, and made her international senior debut that same year.[1]

2018

In 2018, she competed at the Birmingham World Cup, finishing fifth all-around with a score of 51.133.[1] She also competed at the Doha World Championships as a member of the Japanese team which included Mai Murakami, Nagi Kajita, Aiko Sugihara and Asuka Teramoto.[8] The team finished sixth in the team final[1] with a score of 160.262.[8] Individually Hatakeda competed on uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and in the all-around, but did not qualify to any event finals. Her rank in qualifications was 16th in the all-around with a score of 52.932, 22nd on uneven bars (13.800), 19th on balance beam (13.133), and 62nd on floor exercise (12.466).[1][8]

2019

At the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples, Hatakeda competed for Japan alongside teammates Asuka Teramoto and Aiko Sugihara. She won gold on uneven bars and balance beam, as well as all-around and team gold.[3] In the all-around she finished ahead of Russians Uliana Perebinosova and Lilia Akhaimova; on uneven bars she shared the podium with silver medalist Tatiana Nabieva from Russia and her own teammate, bronze medalist Asuka Teramoto; on balance beam she surpassed Italy's Lara Mori and Russia's Perebinosova.[9]

Hatakeda competed at the 2019 Stuttgart World Championships, finishing 11th in team qualifications.[1] Individually she qualified to the all-around final, finishing 17th in the final with a score of 53.932.[1] She did not qualify to any event finals. Her best finish in event qualifications was 24th on balance beam with a score of 12.966. She ranked 37th on uneven bars (13.377) and 67th on floor exercise (12.500).[1]

2020

Hatakeda won all-around bronze on 7 March 2020 at the American Cup with a score of 53.799, finishing behind Americans Morgan Hurd and Kayla DiCello.[5] She had the second-best score on uneven bars, after Hurd.[10]

References

1. "HATAKEDA Hitomi - FIG Athlete Profile". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
2. JAYA, PETALING (July 9, 2019). "Medal eludes Farah but result still her best at Games". The Star Online. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
3. "Medals". Napoli 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
4. "Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
5. "U.S.'s Hurd wins all-around at American Cup". ESPN.com. 2020-03-07. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
6. "Hitomi Hatakeda seeks family inspiration". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
7. "Yoshiaki HATAKEDA". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
8. "Worlds Artistic Results 2018" (PDF).
9. "Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade Artistic Gymnastics Results Book" (PDF).
10. "Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 2020-03-12.