3-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida retires from wrestling

FILE – In this Aug. 9, 2012, file photo, Saori Yoshida of Japan celebrates after she beat Tonya Lynn Verbeek of Canada for the gold medal during their 55-kg women’s freestyle wrestling competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. Japan’s three-time Olympic wrestling champion Yoshida announced her retirement Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, saying it’s time for the next generation of wrestlers to take the stage at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

TOKYO— Three-time Olympic wrestling champion Saori Yoshida retired officially on Thursday, saying it’s time for the next generation of Japanese wrestlers to feature at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The 36-year-old Yoshida, who also won 13 consecutive world championships, spoke before a packed news conference at a hotel in central Tokyo.

“I realize I have done everything I can as a wrestler and it’s now time to let the next generation of wrestlers take over,” Yoshida said.

Yoshida had been taking time away from competition since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she fell short of a fourth straight Olympic gold medal and settled for silver. She has been serving as a coach for the Japan team in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

She received the People’s Honor Award in 2012 after surpassing Aleksandr Karelin’s record for consecutive world titles. The Russian great won three Olympic gold medals and nine world championships from 1988-99.

Yoshida competed for most of her career in the 55-kilogram class but dropped to the 53kg event for the first time at the Olympics in Rio after the sport’s governing body shifted the weight divisions.

Yoshida, who began wrestling at the age of three, said she was tempted to stick around until the Tokyo Olympics.

“After Rio, I had the desire to compete in Tokyo,” Yoshida said. “My father told me it’s important to know when to retire. I knew I would need my best efforts to perform well in Tokyo and when I saw how motivated the younger wrestlers coming up were I knew the time was right.”

Yoshida said she would continue coaching younger wrestlers and will pursue other interests. She has already appeared in several television commercials.

“I have many dreams,” Yoshida said. “I would like to do something besides wrestling. I want to seek happiness and, of course, I want to give support for the Tokyo Games.”