is a Japanese, medal-winning Olympian judoka and

army officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an Military, armed force or Uniformed services, uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant off ...

. In 2018 She won the gold medal in the

2018 World Judo Championships The 2018 World Judo Championships was held between 20 and 27 September 2018 at National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Schedule ''All times are local (Time in Azerbaijan, UTC+4).'' Medal summary Medal Table Men's events Women's e ...

. In 2021 she won the gold medal in the women's 78 kg event, and silver in the mixed team 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 1 ...

held in Tokyo, Japan.

Career

Hamada was born in Kagoshima prefecture and started Judo at the age of ten. When she was in Kagoshima Minami High School, she was taught

newaza Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling i ...

(ground grappling techniques) rigorously by her school judo coach, which made her win the second place at -78 kg category of the All Japan High School Championships. Also during this period, she repeatedly studied videos of

Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki (; born September 16, 1951, Kuji, Iwate) - Japanese judoka, champion and medalist of championships Japan and the world, author of books and one of the leading judo specialists in the world. Biography Katsuhiko K ...

and absorbed his

techniques. After the high school she played at

Yamanashi Gakuin University Yamanashi Gakuin University (Japanese: 山梨学院大学, ''Yamanashi gakuin daigaku'') (YGU) is a university in Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Yamanashi Gakuin was founded in 1946. Today, it is a comprehensive educational institution that ...

, where she started

Sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

, a Russian combat sport, alongside Judo to expand her range of

skills, and won the gold medal at

2014 World Sambo Championships The 2014 World Sambo Championships was held in Narita, Japan between the 20 and 24 November 2014. This tournament included competition in both Sambo, and Combat Sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus ...

. After the university she joined the Japan Self-Defense Forces where she brushed up her transition skills between tachiwaza (standing/throwing techniques) and

. With her highly skilled

, she won the gold medal at the

, and the silver medal in the

2019 World Judo Championships The 2019 World Judo Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Schedule ''All times are local (Japan Standard Time, UTC+9).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Mixed events Prize m ...

. She won the gold medal in

2020 Judo Grand Slam Düsseldorf The 2020 Judo Grand Slam Düsseldorf was held at the ISS Dome in Düsseldorf, Germany from 21 to 23 February 2020. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Source Results Medal table References External links * {{Authority contr ...

and was officially nominated by the

All Japan Judo Federation Founded in 1949, the All Japan Judo Federation( ja, 全日本柔道連盟) is the largest judo association in Japan, and the official representative for judo in the Japanese Olympic Committee. The Federation has several subsidiary organizations ...

for the -78 kg category representative of the

Tokyo Olympic Games Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics * 1964 Summer Olympics * 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021) See also

* Tokyo bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics * Tokyo Paralympics (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

. In the

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 vari ...

held at Tokyo in 2021, she won the gold medal at -78 kg category, defeating Beata Pacut (Poland), Aleksandra Babintseva (Russia), Anna-Maria Wagner (Germany), and Madeleine Malonga (France), all with

Ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In Judo In Judo, an ippon may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four ...

. Also she got the silver medal as a registered member of the mixed team category though she had no opportunity to fight in the category. As of July 2021, her rank in the Ground Self-Defense Force of Japan is captain. She is often referred to as the "Newaza no Jouou (Queen of Newaza)" or "Newaza-shi (Newaza Master)" in Japanese media.

Judo Style

Hamada's judo is characterized by her overwhelming

skills. Most of her recorded wins were with

. Although she has some powerful standing techniques such as Uchi mata and

Ouchi gari Ouchi or Ōuchi may refer to: Geography * Ouchi, Hubei (), a town in Gong'an County, Jingzhou, Hubei, China Japan * Ōuchi, Akita, a town now merged into Yurihonjō, Akita * Ouchi, Saga, a town now merged into Karatsu-city, Saga * Ōuchi-juku, a ...

, she mostly uses them as a transition to a ground fight, and once on the ground, she attacks from any direction (under, over, or side of the opponent) with her masterly

techniques such as

Hikikomi gaeshi , also known as pulling-in counter, is one of the preserved throwing techniques, Habukareta Waza, of judo.Mifune, Kyuzo: ''The Canon of Judo'', Kodansha International Ltd. (Tokyo) 2004, , p. It belonged to the fourth group, Yonkyo, of the 1895 G ...

and Ude garami (

Kimura Lock An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, pr ...

) gaeshi, which, with a high probability, leads to osaekomi or tapping out by arm-joint lock. She also favors using various

shimewaza A chokehold, choke, stranglehold or, in Judo, shime-waza ( ja, 絞技, translation=constriction technique) is a general term for a grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air (choking)''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' ( ...

(choking techniques) to finish her fights. In Japan her relentless newaza attack is often compared to an ant-lion larvae attacking ants.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamada, Shori 1990 births Living people Japanese female judoka World judo champions FISU World University Games gold medalists for Japan Universiade medalists in judo Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for Japan Olympic gold medalists for Japan Olympic silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in judo 21st-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese people Sportspeople from Kagoshima Prefecture