Sakura Kokumai (born October 2, 1992) is an American

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

ka. She won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event at the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

in Lima, Peru and the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2023, links=no), officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, s ...

in Santiago, Chile. She represented the United States in the women's kata event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Japan.

Career

In 2012, Kokumai won a bronze medal in the individual kata event at the

World Karate Championships The Karate World Championships, also known as the World Karate Championships, are the highest level of competition for karate organized by the World Karate Federation (WKF). The competition is held in a different city every two years. Championshi ...

held in Paris, France. The following year, she won the bronze medal in the women's kata event at the 2013 World Combat Games held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2014, Kokumai won the gold medal in the women's kata event at the Pan American Sports Festival held in Tlaxcala, Mexico. She won the silver medal in her event at the 2016 World University Karate Championships held in Braga, Portugal. At the

2017 World Games The 2017 World Games ( pl, Igrzyska Światowe 2017), commonly known as Wrocław 2017 (german: Breslau 2017; sli, Brassel 2017), was the tenth World Games, a major international multi-sport event, meant for sports, or disciplines or events withi ...

held in Wrocław, Poland, Kokumai lost her bronze medal match against Sandy Scordo of France in the women's kata event. In 2018, she competed in the women's individual kata event at the

held in Madrid, Spain where she was eliminated in her third match by

Viviana Bottaro Viviana Bottaro (born 2 September 1987) is an Italian karateka. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's kata event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Bottaro has also won numerous medals in the women's individual kata and wome ...

of Italy. Kokumai won the gold medal in the women's individual kata event at the

held in Lima, Peru. She competed in the women's individual kata event at the

2019 World Beach Games The 2019 World Beach Games, ( ar, 2019 ألعاب شاطئ العالم) officially known as the ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019 and commonly known as Qatar 2019, was the inaugural edition of the international beach and water multi-sport event ...

held in Doha, Qatar without winning a medal. She finished in 5th place. In April 2021, during a training session, Kokumai was subjected to anti-Asian harassment, of which she captured the incident via Instagram. At the

in Tokyo, Japan, Kokumai competed in the women's kata where she lost her bronze medal match against

of Italy. A few months after the Olympics, she also lost her bronze medal match against Bottaro in the women's individual kata event at the

2021 World Karate Championships The 2021 World Karate Championships were held from 16 to 21 November 2021 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Medalists Men Women Medal table References External linksResults book
{{World championships in 2021 World Karate Championship ...

held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Kokumai competed in the women's kata event at the

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines of Olympic sports and other competitions ...

held in Birmingham, United States. In 2023, she lost her bronze medal match in the women's individual kata event at the

held in Budapest, Hungary. A week later, Kokumai won the gold medal in her event at the

held in Santiago, Chile.

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokumai, Sakura Living people 1992 births American female karateka Shitō-ryū practitioners Waseda University alumni Sportspeople from Honolulu American sportspeople of Japanese descent Competitors at the 2017 World Games Competitors at the 2022 World Games Karateka at the 2019 Pan American Games Karateka at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in karate Racially motivated violence against Asian Americans Karateka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic karateka for the United States 21st-century American sportswomen