is a Japanese track cyclist. She mounted a spirited challenge over South Africa's Tracey van Niekerk for the women's sprint gold medal at the 2007

UCI B World Championships The UCI B World Championships were the world championship for Level B bicycle road racing and bicycle time trials organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for nations with developing competitive cycling. The UCI B World Championships in ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and later represented

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Tsukuda qualified for her first Japanese squad, as a 22-year-old, in the women's sprint at the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

by receiving a berth from the UCI "B" World Championships in

Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislature, legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the sec ...

. After grabbing the twelfth and final seed in 12.134 (an average speed of 59.337 km/h) on the morning prelims, Tsukuda lost her first round match-up to Great Britain's top medal favorite

Victoria Pendleton Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. With two ...

in a spectacular fashion, finished third in her repechage heat behind Belarus'

Natallia Tsylinskaya Natallia Tsylinskaya (russian: Наталья Цилинская; born 30 August 1975) is an international cyclist, who specialises in track sprinting. Tsylinskaya is an eight time World Champion, and an Olympic bronze medalist. Early life Unde ...

and Cuba's

Lisandra Guerra Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez (born 31 October 1987, Matanzas) is a Cuban racing cyclist. Major results ;2005 :1st 500 m TT, UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Juniors :1st Sprint, UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Juniors :1st ...

, and then placed twelfth overall in a single four-rider 200 m race to round out the field.

Career highlights

;2006 * 6th

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

( Sprint),

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

(QAT) ;2007 *

(Keirin),

(RSA) *

(Sprint),

(RSA) ;2008 * 12th

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

( Sprint),

(CHN) * 27th

UCI World Championships The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...

( Sprint),

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

(GBR) ;2013 * Japanese Track Cycling Championships (Pursuit), Japan

References

External links

NBC 2008 Olympics profile
* 1985 births Living people Japanese female cyclists Japanese track cyclists Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2006 Asian Games Olympic cyclists of Japan People from Hokkaido Sportspeople from Hokkaido Asian Games competitors for Japan 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women {{Japan-cycling-bio-stub