Tsugumi Sakurai (born 3 September 2001) is a retired Japanese freestyle wrestler. She won the gold medal in the women's 57kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. She is a three-time gold medalist at the World Wrestling Championships (2021, 2022, and 2023). Sakurai also won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 Asian Wrestling Championships held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Career
Sakurai won the gold medal in the women's 55kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. She also won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 Asian Wrestling Championships held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Sakurai won the gold medal in the women's 57kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. A year later, she also won the gold medal in the women's 57kg event at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. As a result, she earned a quota place for Japan for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. In October 2023, Sakurai won the gold medal in the women's 57kg event at the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. She defeated Jong In-sun of North Korea in her gold medal match.
She won the gold medal in the women's 57kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. She defeated Anastasia Nichita of Moldova in the final.
Sakurai announced her retirement at the age of 24 in April 2026, deciding to redirect her focus to coaching and serving as a goodwill ambassador of sports in her home prefecture of Kochi.
Achievements
YearTournamentLocationResultEvent2021World ChampionshipsOslo, Norway 1stFreestyle 55kg 2022Asian ChampionshipsUlaanbaatar, Mongolia 1stFreestyle 57kgWorld ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia 1stFreestyle 57kg 2023World ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia 1stFreestyle 57kgAsian GamesHangzhou, China 1stFreestyle 57kg 2024Asian ChampionshipsBishkek, Kyrgyzstan 2ndFreestyle 57kgSummer OlympicsParis, France 1stFreestyle 57kg
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