Akira Sone (素根 輝, Sone Akira, born 9 July 2000) is a Japanese judoka.[1] She won the gold medal in the Women's +78 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and a silver medal with the Japanese team in the mixed team event at both the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.[2] She is also a two-time world champion in her weight category. Sone's favorite techniques are Tai Otoshi and Ouchi Gari.[3][4]

Akira Sone
Personal information
Born (2000-07-09) 9 July 2000 (age 24)
Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan
OccupationJudoka
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Sport
CountryJapan
SportJudo
Weight class+78 kg
Achievements and titles
Olympic GamesGold (2020)
World Champ.Gold (2019, 2023)
Asian Champ.Gold (2018, 2022)
Medal record
Women's judo
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo +78 kg
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris Mixed team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Tokyo +78 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Doha +78 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Doha Mixed team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta +78 kg
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Nur‑Sultan +78 kg
World Masters
Gold medal – first place 2018 Guangzhou +78 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Jerusalem +78 kg
IJF Grand Slam
Gold medal – first place 2019 Osaka +78 kg
Gold medal – first place 2021 Tashkent +78 kg
Gold medal – first place 2022 Tokyo +78 kg
Silver medal – second place 2016 Tokyo +78 kg
Silver medal – second place 2017 Tokyo +78 kg
Silver medal – second place 2018 Osaka +78 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Paris +78 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Paris +78 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Astana +78 kg
IJF Grand Prix
Gold medal – first place 2018 Hohhot +78 kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 Zagreb +78 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Düsseldorf +78 kg
World Juniors Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Zagreb +78 kg
World Cadets Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Sarajevo +70 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF23619
JudoInside.com97090
Updated on 5 August 2024

Career

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Sone started Judo at the age of 7, following her three brothers.[3][4] In April 2013, she went on to Tanushimaru Junior High School.[3][4] In August 2015, Sone won the World Judo Championships Cadets and the National Junior High School Championships.[3][4] In April 2016, she began studying at Nanchiku High School.[3][4] In March 2017, she won the National High School Championships.[3][4] She won the Inter-High School Championships in August 2017.[3][4] In October 2017, Sone won the World Judo Championships Juniors(+78 kg weight class).[5] In April 2018, she won the All-Japan Judo Championships.[6] In August 2018, Sone won the Asian Games.[7]

Sone won the gold medal in the women's +78 kg event, and silver in the mixed team event, at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.[8]

References

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  1. ^ IJF profile
  2. ^ "Judo SONE Akira". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "近代柔道 2018年4月号 柔道全日本強化選手名鑑 2018 -". Baseball Magazine Sha Co., Ltd. 20 April 2018. p. 21.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "近代柔道 2018年2月号 解体新書 素根輝-". Baseball Magazine Sha Co., Ltd. 20 February 2018. pp. 26–29.
  5. ^ 素根、梅津が優勝=柔道世界ジュニア. Jiji Press (in Japanese). 22 October 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  6. ^ 17歳・素根輝、史上初の柔道全日本女子選手権初出場V…東京五輪代表争いに名乗り. Sports Hochi (in Japanese). 22 April 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Judoka Ruika Sato, Kentaro Iida, Akira Sone add to Japan's gold-medal haul". Japan Times. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  8. ^ "2020 Summer Olympics — Judo - Women +78 kg Schedule". 2020 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
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