Saori Yoshida

Saori Yoshida, born on 5 October 1982 in Tsu, Mie, is a Japanese former freestyle wrestler and the most decorated athlete in the history of freestyle wrestling. Starting in 1998 she won almost every major competition, including three Olympic Games, four Asian Games and 13 world championships, and by 2016 she had lost only three senior international matches. She is the daughter of the national champion and coach Eikatsu Yoshida and began training at age 3. She was Japan's flagbearer at the 2006 Asian Games and the 2012 Olympics, in 2007 became the first female wrestler named Japanese Athlete of the Year, and in 2012 received the People's Honour Award. She helped persuade the International Olympic Committee to keep wrestling in the Games and announced her retirement in January 2019.