Kimiko Ishizaka

Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka, usually known as Kimiko Ishizaka, is a German-Japanese pianist and composer who was born on 4 December 1976 and is also a former Olympic weightlifter and powerlifter. She began weight training in Cologne and says it changed her piano technique by strengthening her shoulders, arms and back. In powerlifting she placed third in the under 82 kilogram class at the 2005 German championships and second in 2006 in the bench press, squat and deadlift disciplines. In Olympic weightlifting she won three medals at the 2008 German championships and placed fifth in the 63 kilogram class at the Eleiko Women's Grand Prix in Austria that spring.