Japanese gymnast "King" Kohei Uchimura, a two-time Olympic men's all-around gold medalist and six-time individual all-around world champion, announced Tuesday via his management that he is retiring.
Considered one of the best male gymnasts of all time, the 33-year-old's international career has been hampered by injuries and he missed the podium at both of gymnastics' major events in 2021, the Olympics and world championships.
Uchimura earned his fourth Olympic selection but suffered a shock early exit at his home Olympics last July, where he chose to focus on one apparatus following persistent shoulder problems.
Two months later, he finished sixth in the horizontal bar final at the world championships in Kitakyushu, the southwestern Japanese city where he was born.
He had a winning streak that spanned 10 years, from the national championships in 2008 to the NHK Cup in 2017.
Uchimura won the individual all-around title -- the event that encompasses the floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar -- at the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics. He was also part of the gold-winning team in Rio.
Uchimura, who became Japan's first professional gymnast shortly after the Rio Games, had to withdraw from the 2017 world championships after injuring his left ankle and give up his attempt to win a seventh successive world all-around gymnastics title.
He finished third at the 2018 nationals, ending his 10-year reign as the Japanese all-around gymnastics champion. That same year he suffered a right ankle ligament injury that prevented him from competing in the individual all-around event at worlds.
In 2020, he said he would focus solely on the high bar. With success in the H level "Bretschneider" and other difficult high bar elements, he qualified for the Tokyo Games.
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Olympics: Gymnastics "King Kohei" Uchimura bows out in Tokyo after fall
