Shoko Miyata

Shoko Miyata (宮田 笙子, born 21 September 2004) is a Japanese artistic gymnast. She is the 2022 World bronze medalist on the balance beam as well as the 2022 Asian Championships silver medalist on vault and floor exercise. She was set to represent Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics, but on 18 July 2024 it was announced that she had been removed from the team.

Career

Miyata began gymnastics when she was four years old after following her older brother to a gymnastics class.

Junior

Miyata made her international debut at the 2018 International Gymnix competition in Montreal where she placed tenth in the all-around. In the event finals, she placed fifth on the vault and seventh on the balance beam. Later that year, she competed at the Junior Asian Championships where she helped Japan finish second in the team competition behind China. Individually, Miyata won bronze on vault behind Qi Qi of China and compatriot Ayumi Niiyama.

Miyata finished 28th in the all-around during the qualification round of the 2019 All-Japan Championships. She was selected to represent Japan at the inaugural Junior World Championships alongside Hazuki Watanabe and Chiaki Hatakeda. Together, they finished 11th as a team. Individually, Miyata finished 18th in the all-around and was the highest-placing Japanese female gymnast, and she was the first reserve for the vault final. She then placed 23rd in the all-around at the 2019 All-Japan Junior Championships.

Senior

2020

Miyata became age-eligible for senior international competitions in 2020 and made her senior international debut at the Melbourne World Cup. She finished third on vault behind Jade Carey and Coline Devillard. However, most other competitions were canceled or postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In September, she competed at the All-Japan Senior Championships and finished 10th in the all-around. Then in December, she placed 56th in the qualification round of the All-Japan Championships.

2021

Miyata finished 36th in the all-around during the qualification round of the All-Japan Championships. She then won a silver medal on the vault behind Mai Murakami at the All-Japan Event Championships. At the All-Japan Senior Championships, she won the all-around title and improved her score from the All-Japan Championships by over 5 points. She led her club to the bronze medal at the All-Japan Team Championships and had the highest score in the al-around.

2022

Miyata began the season with a second-place finish at the All-Japan Championships. She then won the all-around title at the NHK Trophy, becoming the first high schooler to win the women's event in seven years. At the Asian Championships, she helped Japan finish third as a team. Individually, she placed fourth in the all-around and won silver medals on the vault and floor exercise behind Yeo Seo-jeong and Wu Ran, respectively.

In late October, Miyata made her senior World Championships debut at the World Championships in Liverpool, qualifying for the all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor event finals. She contributed scores of 14.400 on vault, 13.233 on balance beam, and 13.700 on the floor exercise towards Japan's seventh place finish in the team final. She then finished eighth in the all-around final, fifth in the vault final, and eighth in the floor final. In the balance beam final, she scored 13.533 and won the bronze medal behind teammate Hazuki Watanabe and Canadian Ellie Black. After the World Championships, she led her team to the title at the All-Japan Team Championships.

2023

In April, Miyata graduated from high school and enrolled in Juntendo University and joined its gymnastics club. She competed at the All-Japan Championships despite a stress fracture in her right heel, and she finished second behind Hazuki Watanabe. She then won her second consecutive NHK Trophy title and was selected for the World Championships team. She won the vault title at the All-Japan Event Championships and placed seventh on the balance beam.

Miyata competed at the World University Games where she helped Japan finish second as a team behind China. She withdrew from the all-around final after the third rotation, but she still competed in the event finals. She won gold on vault, bronze on floor exercise, and placed fourth on balance beam. At the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp she helped Japan qualify for the team final, where they ended up in eighth place and secured an Olympic berth. Individually she qualified for the vault final, where she placed sixth. After the World Championships, she competed at the All-Japan Team Championships and helped her club place seventh.

2024

Miyata began the season with her first All-Japan Championships victory. In the lead up to the NHK Trophy, she injured her left groin, but still chose to compete. She won the gold medal in the all-around and was selected for the Japanese Olympic team alongside Rina Kishi, Haruka Nakamura, Mana Okamura, and Kohane Ushioku. However, she was forced to leave the team due to being caught smoking. On 19 July the Japan Gymnastics Association held a press conference, announcing that Miyata would be withdrawing from the Games.

Competitive history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miyata, Shoko
2004 births
Living people
Japanese female artistic gymnasts
Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
21st-century Japanese women
Medalists at the 2021 Summer Universiade
Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics
FISU World University Games gold medalists for Japan
FISU World University Games silver medalists for Japan
FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Japan
Sportspeople from Kyoto