Urara Ashikawa is a Japanese artistic gymnast who represented Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
15 Facts About Urara Ashikawa
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Urara Ashikawa is the 2021 World Champion on the balance beam.
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Urara Ashikawa began gymnastics when she was a year old and began training at Mizutori Gymnasium when she was in second grade.
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In 2016 Ashikawa competed at the All-Japan Event Championships where she placed third on balance beam behind Asuka Teramoto and Kiko Kuwajima.
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In 2018 Urara Ashikawa represented Japan at the Asian Junior Championships alongside Haruka Ikeda, Hinata Matsubara, Shoko Miyata, and Ayumi Niiyama.
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Individually Urara Ashikawa placed fifth in the all-around, seventh on uneven bars, and sixth on balance beam.
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At the All-Japan Event Championships Urara Ashikawa placed ninth on balance beam during qualifications and did not qualify to the event final.
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Urara Ashikawa ended the season competing at the World Cup trials where she placed second on balance beam behind Mana Oguchi.
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Urara Ashikawa made her senior international debut at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy where she placed 16th in the all-around and seventh on uneven bars and balance beam.
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Urara Ashikawa next competed at the Baku World Cup where she qualified to the balance beam final in first place; however event finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan.
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The FIG later ruled that the results of qualification would be used for point distribution for Olympic qualification, meaning Urara Ashikawa earned a perfect score of 90 and no other competitor could match her score on the balance beam.
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In June Urara Ashikawa was officially awarded an Olympic berth via the Apparatus World Cup series and competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics as an individual athlete.
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Urara Ashikawa was originally the first reserve for the balance beam final but was able to compete when Larisa Iordache withdrew.
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In October Urara Ashikawa competed at the 2021 World Championships in Kitakyushu.
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Urara Ashikawa became the third Japanese woman to win a world title in artistic gymnastics following Tanaka-Ikeda and Mai Murakami.