{{Short description|Japanese fencer (born 1985)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox fencer | name = Yuki Ota | image = Yuki Ota teams 2014 CIP t112921.jpg | caption = Ota at the 2014 Paris World Cup | fullname = Yuki Ota | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1985|11|25}}<ref name="yahoo1">{{cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/JPN/Yuki+Ota/224456 |title=Yuki Ota Profile |publisher=Yahoo! Sports |date=2011-04-20 |access-date=2012-08-05}}</ref> | birth_place = Otsu, Shiga, Japan | height = {{height|m=1.71}}<ref name="yahoo1"/> | weight = {{convert|68|kg|lb st|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Japanese Medalists in London 2012 Olympics|url=http://www.joc.or.jp/english/londonolympics/medalists.html|work=joc.or.jp|publisher=Japanese Olympic Committee|access-date=17 January 2014}}</ref> | weapon = Foil | hand = right-handed | website = | club = | natlcoach = Oleg Matseichuk | headcoach = | retired = | fieranking = [https://fie.org/athletes/4850 current ranking] | medaltemplates = {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalSilver|2008 Beijing|Individual}} {{MedalSilver|2012 London|Team}} {{MedalCompetition|World Championships}} {{MedalGold|2015 Moscow|Individual}} {{MedalBronze|2010 Paris|Individual}} {{MedalBronze|2010 Paris|Team}} {{MedalCompetition|Asian Games}} {{MedalGold|2006 Doha|Individual}} {{MedalSilver|2010 Guangzhou|Team}} {{MedalBronze|2006 Doha|Team}} {{MedalBronze|2010 Guangzhou|Individual}} {{MedalBronze|2014 Incheon|Individual}} }} {{nihongo|'''Yuki Ota'''|太田 雄貴|''Ōta Yūki''|extra=born 25 November 1985 in Otsu, Shiga}} is a Japanese foil fencer, gold medallist at the 2006 Asian Games, silver medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics, team silver medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and individual gold medallist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships. He is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://olympics.com/ioc/mr-yuki-ota | title=Mr Yuki Ota | last= | first= | website=The International Olympic Committee | date= | accessdate=19 August 2021 }}</ref>
== Career == Yuki took up fencing in his elementary school years at the instigation of his father, a ''Zorro'' fan and keen amateur fencer.<ref name="AS">{{cite web|url=http://ajw.asahi.com/article/globe/people/AJ201401100019|title=Yuki Ota: Olympic silver medalist plans to strike gold at Rio 2016|author=Kosuke Inagaki|newspaper=The Asahi Shimbun|date=10 January 2014|access-date=23 September 2014|archive-date=13 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013151617/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/globe/people/AJ201401100019|url-status=dead}}</ref> He won the national junior high school championships. In Heian High School, he got third consecutive championship victories in national high school championships.
Ota climbed his first World Cup podium with a victory at the 2004 Tehran World Cup. He qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, his first Olympic participation, but was defeated in the table of 16 by Russia's Renal Ganeyev. He later explained he had felt completely overpowered: "It was on a whole other level. In F1 terms, it was like the finalists were equipped with completely different engines."<ref name="AS" /> Demotivated, he was taken over in world rankings by friend and rival Kenta Chida, whom he always used to beat, and contemplated giving up competition to take a regular job.<ref name="AS" />
In 2006, Ota resumed training with Japan's national coach, Ukrainian Oleg Matseichuk, from whom he had always kept his distances before.<ref name="AS" /> He won a gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and at the 2008 Asian Fencing Championships held in Bangkok.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Ota reached the final of the men's individual foil held on 13 August 2008, by beating Germany's Peter Joppich 15–12 in the quarter-finals and Salvatore Sanzo 15–14 in the semifinals. He lost 15–9 to Benjamin Kleibrink in the final, thus winning the silver medal, Japan's first Olympic medal.<ref name="AS" /> He was then recruited by French club ASPTT Aix-en-Provence and took part in the team event of the 2009 French national championship along with Erwann Le Péchoux and Marcel Marcilloux.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laprovence.com/article/sports/29172/escrime-ota-yuki-nouvelle-arme-de-lasptt.html|title=Escrime : Ota Yuki, nouvelle arme de l'ASPTT|newspaper=La Provence|date=28 October 2008|language=fr}}</ref> In the 2008–09 season, Ota moved to the top of the world rankings after finishing runner-up in the Moscow World Cup.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20090528a2.html |title=Fencer Ota climbs to No. 1 in world rankings |work=The Japan Times|date=2009-05-28 |access-date=2012-08-05}}</ref>
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he lost in the third round of the individual foil competition, but won a silver medal in the team foil event.<ref>{{cite news|title=Olympics fencing: Italy beat Japan to win men's team foil|date=19 July 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/18907906|publisher=BBC Sport|access-date=6 August 2012}}</ref> At the 2015 World Fencing Championships, he won gold in the Men's foil event, becoming the first Japanese to win a world championship in any event in fencing.<ref name=Nikkan>{{cite web|script-title=ja:太田雄貴が日本フェンシング金字塔の世界一|url=http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/1508940.html|website=Nikkan Sports|access-date=18 January 2016|language=ja}}</ref>
Ota graduated from Doshisha University. He is a member of the athletes commission of the International Fencing Federation.
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * [http://www.sanspo.com/beijing2008/fencing/oota_yuuki.html Sanspo.com] {{in lang|ja}}
{{World Champions in Men's Foil}} {{Asian Games Champions Fencing Foil Men}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ota, Yuki}} Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:Asian Games gold medalists in fencing Category:Asian Games silver medalists in fencing Category:Asian Games bronze medalists in fencing Category:Doshisha University alumni Category:Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 2006 Asian Games Category:Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 2010 Asian Games Category:Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 2014 Asian Games Category:Japanese male foil fencers Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic fencers for Japan Category:Olympic silver medalists for Japan Category:Olympic medalists in fencing Category:Sportspeople from Ōtsu, Shiga Category:Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Category:Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Category:Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Category:Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Category:Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Category:Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Category:Japanese International Olympic Committee members Category:21st-century Japanese sportsmen Category:Asian Games fencers for Japan Category:World Fencing Championships medalists