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Olympic Special: Ryoko TANI and Ai Fukuhara
Ai Fukuhara (福原愛), japanese table tennis player, at 2004 Olympics. Photo by Mariann Domonkos.
For photos of Ryoko Tani go to http://en.beijing2008.cn/98/51/article212015198.shtml.
It's exactly a year before the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Five of Japan's likely podium challengers are: -
Judoka Ryoko Tani is seeking a third-straight gold medal and her first as a mother.
Swimmer Kosuke Kitajima says he wants to win gold for his coach.
Table-tennis star Ai Fukuhara intends to improve in her second trip to the Olympics.
Badminton doubles team Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota say they will make their Olympic dreams a reality.
Ryoko Tani (谷亮子 Tani Ryōko, born September 6, 1975) is one of the most famous female Judo competitors in Japan. Her maiden name was Ryoko Tamura (田村亮子 Tamura Ryōko). She was born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka and is now an employee at Toyota Motor Corporation.
Her blood type is B.
She is commonly known as 'Yawara-chan' (from the title character of Yawara!, a popular judo manga). She won the International Women's Judo Championships in 1990 and 'Yawara-chan' has gone on to win the event every year. She has a record six world titles and she brought home the 48kg-category gold medal from Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Athens Olympics in 2004. In 2003, she married Yoshitomo Tani, an Olympian and Pro Baseball player then with the Orix Blue Wave.
posted by Message from Japan on Saturday, August 11, 2007 0 comments