3-time Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan retiring

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TOKYO (AP) — Three-time Olympic gold medal gymnast Kohei Uchimura of Japan — the man they call “King Kohei”— is retiring, his management company said Tuesday.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE – Silver medalist Kohei Uchimura of Japan celebrates after his horizontal bar performance on the second and last day of the apparatus finals of the Gymnastics World Championships at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar on Nov. 3, 2018. Three-time Olympic gold medal gymnast Kohei Uchimura of Japan, the man they call “King Kohei,” is retiring, his management company said Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, FIle)

The 33-year-old won gold in 2012 and 2016 as the best all-around men’s gymnast, and also won a team gold in 2016. He also won four Olympic silver medals, and won gold 10 times at world championships.

The 2020 Olympics, delayed a year by the pandemic, were a disappointment at home in Tokyo.

Uchimura fell in qualifying in his signature high-bar event and failed to advance to the finals.

His first Olympics was in Beijing in 2008, and for more than a decade he established a unmatched standard of excellence in men’s gymnastics with a level of grace, precision, and humility.

3-time Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan retiring (msn.com)