Rie Tanaka (田中 理恵, Tanaka Rie, born 11 June 1987) is a Japanese retired artistic gymnast.[1] She won the 2010 Longines Prize for Elegance[2] and competed at the 2012 London Olympics. Her brothers, Kazuhito Tanaka and Yusuke Tanaka, were also Olympic artistic gymnasts.[3][4]

Rie Tanaka
Tanaka Rie at 42nd Artistic Gymnastics World Championship 2010.
Personal information
Full nameRie Tanaka
Country representedJapan
Born (1987-06-11) June 11, 1987 (age 37)
Iwade, Wakayama, Japan
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team2008–2012
Head coach(es)Seo Kyoko
Medal record
Representing Japan
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2010 Guangzhou Team
Silver medal – second place 2010 Guangzhou Vault
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Guangzhou All-Around
Universiade
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Belgrade Team

Career

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Rie Tanaka on the balance beam, London, July 2012

Tanaka was awarded the Longines Prize for Elegance at the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam.[2] She qualified to the all-around final in 14th place with a score of 55.699, and finished with a score of 55.332 in 17th place.[5] She did not qualify to any event finals, but competed alongside the rest of the Japanese team in team finals, where they finished fifth with a score of 169.897.[5]

Tanaka competed at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo. She qualified to the all-around final in 19th place and finished 20th with a score of 54.699, but did not qualify to any event finals.[5] In team finals, Japan finished seventh with a score of 167.122.[5]

Tanaka won the all-around at the NHK Cup in May 2012 with a score of 55.650, securing her spot on the Olympic team.[3]

2012 London Olympics

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Tanaka and her brothers, Kazuhito Tanaka and Yusuke Tanaka, were all selected to represent Japan in artistic gymnastics at London 2012. This was the first time three siblings competed in gymnastics at the same Olympic Games.[3][4] Kazuhito and Yusuke won silver for Japan in the men's team competition.[4]

At London 2012, Tanaka was the women's artistic gymnastics team captain.[4] The Japanese women's team finished eighth in the team all-around[6] with a score of 166.646.[5] Tanaka qualified for the individual all-around, where she finished 16th[7] with a score of 55.632: 14.166 on vault, 14.500 on uneven bars, 13.700 on balance beam and 13.266 on floor exercise.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Profile in London2012.com Archived August 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b "Rie Tanaka and Philipp Boy win the Longi... - 22/10/2010 | Longines Media Center". mediacenter.longines.com. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Family affair: Rie Tanaka, two brothers earn spots on Olympic gymnastics squad". The Japan Times Online. May 6, 2012. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Beech, Hannah (July 30, 2012). "Team China Dominates in Men's Gymnastics as Japan Takes Silver". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "TANAKA Rie - FIG Athlete Profile". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  6. ^ Artistic Gymnastics: Women's Team Archived December 4, 2012, at archive.today, London2012.com]
  7. ^ Artistic Gymnastics: Women's Individual All-Around Archived December 4, 2012, at archive.today, London2012.com]