Aino Yamada (born 10 March 2003) is a Japanese

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

. She represented her country at the

2018 Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud de 2018), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international sports, cultural, and educational event held ...

and is the 2021 national Japanese champion.

Personal life

She took up rhythmic gymnastics because she enjoyed how it allowed her to express herself with her body and how each apparatus had a different character. Outside of the gym she enjoys hot springs and saunas. Her dream is to compete at the Olympic Games, like her idol

Melitina Staniouta Melitina Dmitryevna Staniouta ( be, Меліціна Дзмітрыеўна Станюта, russian: Мелитина Дмитриевна Станюта; born 15 November 1993) is a Belarusian retired individual rhythmic gymnast.Kokushikan University is a private university in Setagaya, Tokyo, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. Combined teams of the Graduate School of Engineering and the Department of Science and Engineering competed against 130 team and came in 11th place in the 27th Formula SAE in 20 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Career

Junior

Yamada debuted at the 2016 Asian Championships in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, where she won a bronze medal in teams along

Sumire Kita Sumire Kita ( ja, 喜田純鈴; born 11 January 2001) is a retired Japanese individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Asian Junior all-around champion, the 2022 Asian Senior all-around silver medalist and two-time Japanese National Junior c ...

Chisaki Oiwa Chisaki Oiwa (大岩千未来 ''Ōiwa Chisaki'' born 20 November 2001) is a Japanese rhythmic gymnast. She represented Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics and finished nineteenth in the qualification round for the individual all-around. She is a t ...

and Karin Koike. In 2017 she was again selected for the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asian ...

. She ended 3rd in the all-around and won bronze in the hoop final behind

Adilya Tlekenova Adilya Tlekenova (born 17 July 2002) is a Kazakhstani rhythmic gymnast. She won the gold medal in the team event at the 2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18 ...

and Takhmina Ikromova. She again represented Japan at the

in 2018 where, by qualifying in 2nd place in the all-around, she made it into the top 7 that qualified for the 2018 Youth Olympics. In October she took part in the competition in Buenos Aires, where she finished 6th in qualification and 8th in the final. She was a member of the team that won the bronze medal in the mixed team event.

Senior

Aino became a senior in 2019. At Japanese Nationals at the end of 2021, she won the all-around despite a drop in her ribbon routine, and she also won the hoop, ball, and club finals. She made her senior international breakthrough in 2022, when she debuted at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in Sofia. She placed 25th in the all-around, 20th with hoop, 26th with ball, 24th with clubs and 31st with ribbon. Then she competed in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

ending 32nd in the all-around, 36th with hoop, 29th with ball, 34th with clubs and 24th with ribbon. In August, she took part in the last World Cup of the season in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, taking 20th place in the all-around, 26th with hoop, 30th with ball, 12th with clubs and 14th with ribbon. In September, Yamada was selected for her first

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

along with Sumire Kita and the senior group. There she ended 33rd in the All-Around, 31st with hoop, 38th with ball, 46th with clubs, 26th with ribbon. In 2023, she was 8th at the 2023 Asian Championships, just .100 behind fellow Japanese gymnast Mirano Kita. She qualified for the ball and ribbon finals and placed 8th in both. At the 2023 World Championships, she placed 57th after dropping her apparatus in two of her routines. Her low placement meant that she did not qualify to compete at the

2024 Olympic Games ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summer ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamada, Aino 2003 births Living people Japanese rhythmic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships Sportspeople from Chiba (city)