is the first

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 ...

ese athlete to become an Olympic

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

medalist, winning the bronze medal at the Sydney

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in the 57–67 kg weight class."2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Taekwondo"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on August 9, 2010) After beginning karate at age 12, she attended

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

in Tokyo. She spent her junior year of college studying abroad in the United States at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, where she began learning Taekwondo. Okamoto is a 1996 graduate of the Waseda School of Human Sciences, and currently works at Runes Kanazawa Co. Ltd.

Kickboxing record

, - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1993-12-19 , , Loss , , align=left,

Lucia Rijker Lucia Frederica Rijker (; born December 6, 1967) is a Dutch professional boxer, kickboxer, and actress. Rijker was sometimes dubbed by the press "The Most Dangerous Woman in the World". Early career Rijker speaks four languages and is a Budd ...

, ,

K-2 Grand Prix '93 This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a kickboxing promotion based in Hong Kong. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993 at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 2023 events 2022 events 2021 events ...

, ,

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, , TKO (right low kick) , , 2 , , 0:38 , , , - , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

* * 1971 births Living people Japanese female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Japan Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Sportspeople from Osaka Prefecture People from Kadoma, Osaka Japanese Christians Taekwondo practitioners at the 2000 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in taekwondo Asian Games medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Taekwondo Championships medalists {{Japan-Olympic-medalist-stub