Yui Susaki (須崎 優衣, Susaki Yui, born 30 June 1999) is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. She won the gold medal in the women's 50 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics without conceding a single point to any opponent. In the 2024 Summer Olympics, she was defeated by Vinesh Phogat, her first ever loss in any international bout. She eventually won a bronze medal through the repechage bout. She is also a four-time World Champion, having won her first title in 2017. She is coached by Shoko Yoshimura.
Career
Susaki made her junior debut in 2010 and won three consecutive world cadet championships from 2014 to 2016.[2] In 2017, she won the gold medal at her debut World Championships in Paris in 2017 in the 48 kg category. In 2018, she won the gold medal at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships at Budapest in the new 50 kg category.[3][4] Between the world titles, she won the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2017 and the Klippan Lady Open in 2018 in the women's 50 kg event. In Klippan, she beat then top ranked Mariya Stadnik in the final by a 10-1 scoreline.[5]
She could not defend her World title in the 2019 World Wrestling Championships as she was beaten by Yuki Irie in the national trials. Stadnyk triumphed in the 50kg category at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Due to Irie's poor performance in Nur-Sultan, she was recalled to the Olympic Team.[6] On 5 July 2021, she was named flagbearer of the Japanese delegation to the Summer Olympics by the Japanese Olympic Committee, together with basketball player Rui Hachimura.[7] Although widely regarded as one of the best wrestler in the 50 kg class, she was unseeded going into the Olympics.[8] She went on to win the gold medal without conceding a point to an opponent in the Games.[9][10] She won the gold medal in the women's 50kg event at the subsequent 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.[11][12]
^"須崎優衣の恩師・吉村祥子コーチは国際殿堂入りの軽量級最強女王「100点満点をあげたい」" [Yui Susaki's mentor, Coach Shoko Yoshimura was the strongest lightweight queen named to the International Hall of Fame "I would give her a perfect score of 100"]. Hochi Sports (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan. 7 August 2021. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
