He was a WC champion five times, once at the Olympics. In the gymnastics WC which ended this weekend, he again outperformed his competitors.

The 25-year-old Japanese gymnast – originally from Nagasaki, but based in Tokyo – is the undisputed best gymnast in the world – perhaps also the world’s best sportsman.

– He’s really unique. “She’s the roughest gymnast I’ve ever seen,” Norwegian gymnastics veteran Espen Jansen told NRK.

Then you would think the Japanese follow a strict diet. But not.

– I hate vegetables. My favorite food is chocolate, and I will not change my eating habits. Diet? This is not important.

So says the 160-centimetre man who has won the last six all-around titles at the Olympics and World Cup.

– I do things at my own pace, he underlined in an interview with Sportiva Shueisha in 2010.

Maybe that’s why he has a hobby of collecting watches.

– There is no easier competition

At the gymnastics WC in Nanning in China, he finished with 91.965 points. That’s 1,492 points ahead of silver medalist Max Whitlock.

– I don’t think the competition has become easier. “This competition reflects my training, which I try to transfer perfectly into the competition,” he said.

Since the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, when she won a silver medal, Japan has not been beaten in an all-around event. Since then, he has won WC gold in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013, in addition to Olympic gold in 2012.

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And in Nanning this year. Chinese people’s favorite is to take their favorites home. And they warmed up by beating Japan in the team competition a few days ago.

VIDEO: Check out Uchima’s swing bar program from the previous WC

Huge winning margin

However, when entering the individual competition, Uchimura performed outstandingly as expected. Although the margin of victory is smaller than before, it is quite large (see fact box).

– I am very happy for the win and the fifth WC title in a row. However I struggled on the bar and swing, and felt that I wasn’t performing to the best of my ability. “I also haven’t performed optimally in jumping, so I still have some work to do,” he added

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Even coach Hiroyuki Kato considered what his students did “not humane”. Competitors say he is a “machine”.

– I am only satisfied when I manage to make the best of it from training to competition, said Uchimura.

He has been training almost all his life. He grew up in a gym owned and operated by his parents, and by his own admission, he enjoyed “twisting and turning” from an early age.

His mother is also still active as a gymnast in the veteran class.

– Uchimura has an extraordinary sense of space, and keeps his eyes focused during training. He knows exactly where he is and what he has to do, even though his training is of the highest level of difficulty, said Espen Jansen.

Unapproachable

Russia’s David Beljavskij was asked how Japan could be defeated.

– That’s a question that none of us know the answer to. If we knew how, we would, he said.

WC silver winner Max Whitlock put it this way.

– Kohei is far beyond our reach. You see it in this competition.

– His achievements give us something to strive for. “You see it in all the gymnasts here that they strive to get better when they see how it can be done,” he said, adding that Uchimura is probably the best gymnast the world has ever seen.

Belarusian example

The Japanese themselves are more humble. He said that Vitalij Sjerbo of Belarus was greater, and it was he who inspired Uchimura to achieve this far.

Sjerbo won an incredible six gold medals at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

– This is absolutely impossible. But he succeeded, Uchimura said.

Although he has a lot of medals, he still has a way to go to match Sjerbo’s 10 Olympic medals and 23 World Cup medals. But Uchimura is only 25 years old.

But Sjerbo has not been able to defend her Olympic all-around title since 1992. No one has won two all-around gold medals since 1972. Uchimura was able to do it in Rio in 2016.

Will move on to the Olympics at home

Initially, he intended to retire after the Rio Olympics. But then Tokyo was awarded the Olympics in 2020.

– I would like to have the Olympics on home soil with me, said Uchimura. Then he will still be 31 years old.

This is bad news for competitors.