is a Japanese diver. She has represented Japan at various international events since the age of 14, including the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia host ...

and the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Early life

Itahashi was born in Takarazuka,

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

. She commenced swimming at the JSS swimming school in Takarazuka when in her first grade of elementary school. When in the third grade she switched to diving after first participating in a one-month course. Her father is a former judo player. Her coach at JSS is , who is also head coach of the national diving team.

Diving career

In 2013, when a second grade student at Gotenyama Junior High School, Itahashi finished third in the 10m platform event of the national championships. Her performance earned her selection to compete at the

2013 East Asian Games The 2013 East Asian Games, officially known as the VI East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that took place in Tianjin, China, between 6 October and 15 October 2013. 2,422 Athletes from nine East Asian nations competed in 254 eve ...

, her first international event. At the Games she finished 5th in the 1m springboard event and 7th in the 3m springboard event. In June 2014 Itahashi won the 10m platform event at the national indoor invitational championships, followed by wins in the platform and springboard events at the national junior high school championships in August. In September 2014, Itahashi won the 3m springboard event at the Japanese national championships and earned selection for the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

. Her victory at the national championships at the age of 14 years and 8 months made her the youngest person to win a springboard diving event in the 90-year history of the championships. At the Asian Games in October 2014, Itahashi finished in 5th in the platform event and 7th in the 3m springboard event. In July 2015 Itahashi competed in the 3m springboard event at the World Aquatics Championships held in Russia. In the preliminary round she successfully completed a 109C dive (a forward dive with 4 1/2 turns in the tuck position), the first woman to do so at an international competition. She advanced to the semi-finals in 6th position, but an error in a subsequent dive saw her fall to 16th place and miss out on a berth in the final. In February 2016 Itahashi secured a berth at the Rio Olympics by qualifying for the final of the 10m platform event at the

2016 FINA Diving World Cup The 2016 FINA Diving World Cup took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 19 to 24 February 2016. It was the 20th edition of the Diving World Cup, and the first time being hosted by Brazil. The venue was the Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre. The meet se ...

. She failed to qualify in the 3m springboard event however, finishing 22nd in the qualifying round. At the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

she finished eighth in the 10m platform diving. In November 2016, Itahashi claimed a silver medal in the 3m springboard event at a grand prix event in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, followed by a bronze medal in the 10m platform event at the

2016 Asian Swimming Championships The 10th Asian Swimming Championships were held 14–20 November 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. The Championships is organized by the Asia Swimming Federation (AASF), and in 2016 featured competition in 4 of the 5 Aquatics disciplines in 56 events: *Swimm ...

. In 2023, at the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially known as the 19th Asian Games (), also known as Hangzhou 2022, ( zh, c=杭州2022, p=Hángzhōu Èr líng èr èr), will be a multi-sport event celebrated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Hangzhou will be the t ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

, China, Itahashi won silver with

Matsuri Arai is a Japanese diver. She competed in the women's 10 metre platform event at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. She represented Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's synchronized 10 metre platform a ...

in 10 metre synchro.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Itahashi, Minami Living people 2000 births Japanese female divers People from Takarazuka, Hyōgo Sportspeople from Hyōgo Prefecture Divers at the 2014 Asian Games Divers at the 2018 Asian Games Divers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic divers for Japan Asian Games competitors for Japan Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan 21st-century Japanese sportswomen World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Asian Games medalists in diving