Kōko Tsurumi

Kōko Tsurumi
Personal information
Full nameKōko Tsurumi
Alternative name(s)鶴見 虹子
Country represented Japan
Born (1992-09-28) September 28, 1992 (age 32)
Tokyo, Japan
HometownTokyo, Japan
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior
Years on national team2006–12 (JPN)
ClubAsahi Seimei Gymnastic Club
Head coach(es)Sergei Butsula
Former coach(es)Chieko Tsukahara
ChoreographerAlina Kozich
Retired2015
Medal record
Representing  Japan
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2009 London Uneven Bars
Bronze medal – third place 2009 London All-Around
World Cup Final
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Madrid Uneven Bars
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2010 Guangzhou Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Guangzhou Uneven Bars
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Doha Team
Gold medal – first place 2008 Doha All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2008 Doha Uneven Bars
Gold medal – first place 2008 Doha Floor Exercise

Kōko Tsurumi (鶴見虹子, Tsurumi Kōko, born September 28, 1992) is a retired Japanese artistic gymnast. She is the 2009 World all-around bronze medalist, uneven bars silver medalist, and a two-time Olympian (2008, 2012).

Gymnastics career

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Tsurumi was a member of the 2008 Japanese Olympic Team. The women's gymnastics team placed 5th in team competition. Individually, Tsurumi placed 17th in the all-around final and 8th in the balance beam event final.

Tsurumi at the 2009 World Championships

Tsurumi competed at the 2009 American Cup and placed 7th all-around.

At the 2009 World Championships in London, Koko Tsurumi competed a historic performance to win the individual all-around bronze medal. During event finals, Tsurumi won the silver medal on uneven bars and placed 6th on balance beam. Tsurumi is the first Japanese woman gymnast to win a World Championships medal in 43 years.

Koko competed at the 2010 Japan Cup and placed second all-around behind Ksenia Afanasyeva. At that competition, Tsurumi scored a 15.400 on uneven bars. She debuted a new bars routine with an ono turn to half turn connected to a Tkachev and an ono turn connected to a Jaegar. At the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Tsurumi experienced problems with consistency and failed to make any event finals and placed 21st in the All Around, behind countrywoman Rie Tanaka.

At the 2011 Japan Cup, Koko placed 2nd place with the Japanese team in the team competition and won the gold medal in the all around competition. She placed 0.100 higher than 2nd-place finisher, Chinese gymnast Sui Lu. Later that year she placed seventh on Uneven Bars at the World Championships and seventh with the team.

In 2012, Koko was part of Japan's Olympic team in London, where she placed seventh in the bars final and eighth with the team.

She made her elite comeback at the 2015 WOGA Classic in Plano, Texas, scoring 15.000 on bars and 13.850 on beam.[1]

At the NHK Cup, Tsurumi suffered an achilles tendon injury and was out for the remainder of the 2015 season.[2] She retired in 2015.[3]

Competitive history

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Senior

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Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2007
World Championships 15
2008
Asian Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Olympic Games 5 17 8
World Cup Final 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7
2009 American Cup 7
World Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6
2010 Japan Cup 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
National Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 5 21
Asian Games 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2011 Japan Cup 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
NHK Cup 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 7 15 7
2012 National Championships 7
Olympic Games 8 7
2014 National Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2015 WOGA Classic 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
National Championships 5
Kōko Tsurumi
Japanese name
Kanji鶴見 虹子
Hiraganaつるみ こうこ
Transcriptions
RomanizationTSURUMI Kōko

References

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  1. ^ "2015 WOGA Classic Results". February 14, 2015. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  2. ^ "Japan's Koko Tsurumi Suffers An Injury Which Will Put An End To Her Career". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  3. ^ "World Medalist and Olympian Koko Tsurumi Retires". The Gymternet. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
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