is a former

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

. He was one of the top male Japanese biathletes from 2000 until his retirement in 2014.

Career

Born in the city of Ojiya in the

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

, Isa found biathlon after graduating high school and joining the military. Isa debuted in 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 first round of the 2000–01 World Cup in

Antholz-Anterselva Rasen-Antholz (; it, Rasun-Anterselva ) is a municipality in South Tyrol in northern Italy. Geography The municipal area stretches along the Antholz valley, a northern side valley of the larger Puster Valley. In the northeast, the Staller Saddl ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. That season Isa made his debut at the

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, ...

at the World Championships in Pokljuka. He also participated in all World Championships from

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, and then all three World Championships from

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

for Japan. Isa participated in his first Olympics in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and he also participated in the Olympics in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. His best individual finish at the Olympics came in the 12.5 km pursuit in 2006, he finished 35th. His best relay finish also came in

, a 12th place. His best individual finish at the World Championships came in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Hochfilzen Hochfilzen is a town and municipality in the Kitzbühel district of the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is located in the Pillersee valley 5 km east of Fieberbrunn. Population was 1,147 in 2016. It is a popular winter sports resort, especially f ...

, where Isa finished 25th in the pursuit. His best relay finish at the World Championships was an 11th which came in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Pokljuka The Pokljuka Plateau () is a forested karst plateau at an elevation of around , located in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia. The plateau is known for its forests, mountain pastures (Javornik, Lipanca, Uskovnica, Zajamniki, etc.), and w ...

. Through his career, Isa never finished on the podium, but he once finished in the top ten individually. It, a 10th place, came in

in the third round of the 2009–10 season. Isa's best relay finish in the World Cup was an 8th in

Ruhpolding Ruhpolding is the municipality with the biggest area of the Traunstein district in southeastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the south of the Chiemgau region in the Alps and next to the Austrian border. Ruhpolding has a biathlon track. ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. His best overall finish came in the 2001–02 World Cup where he finished 46th. After the 20 km individual race at the 2014 Olympics, Isa announced his retirement from the sport.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the

International Biathlon Union The International Biathlon Union (IBU; german: Internationale Biathlon-Union) is the international governing body of biathlon. Its headquarters were in Salzburg, Austria, until May 2020, when the Federation moved to Anif, on the outskirts of the ...

Olympic Games

:''*Mass start was added as an event in 2006, with the mixed relay being added in 2014.''

World Championships

:''*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.'' :''**Mixed relay was added as an event in 2005.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isa, Hidenori 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Niigata Prefecture Japanese male biathletes Biathletes at the 2002 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2006 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic biathletes for Japan Asian Games medalists in biathlon Biathletes at the 1999 Asian Winter Games Biathletes at the 2007 Asian Winter Games Biathletes at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1999 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2007 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2011 Asian Winter Games