Tokyo Olympics: U.S. karateka finishes fourth with "no regrets"

USA KARATE

The United State's Sakura Kokumai's journey will not end with the Olympics.

For Sakura Kokumai, the long, lonely journey to the Olympics was as important as the medal she did not win. She finished fourth in the Olympic's karate competition in kata, a formal routine performed for technique, speed, power and mental focus.

“I am happy to be back here in Japan. It was a very special Olympics,” Kokumai said after her competition ended. “Unfortunately, I am not able to go back with the hardware but I’m pretty proud with all the performances that I did.”

Just out of medal range, she hopes she can contend again in the Olympics. Karate is not included in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but somewhere down the line, the 28-year old hopes to achieve her dream.

Born in Hawaii to Japanese parents, Team USA’s Sakura Kokumai had always associated with both the U.S. and Japan, spending most of her life going between the two countries. 

For years she prepared for the 2020 Olympics. Without a major sponsor or sports endorsements, she had to rent a room in a Japanese American family's home to train in California. She had to scrape up enough money to attend international competitions to become qualified to compete in the first Games to include karate.

Then COVID-19 happened delaying the Games for another year. Another year of renting a room and training alone.

It was during one training session in a public park when she was harassed for being Asian. She was not afraid but because of her traininig in the martial arts, she chose not to respond to the verbal attacks from the apparently mentally unbalanced man.

"I was a target because of how I looked," she said. "Not because I am an athlete. Not because I compete in karate — but because I am Asian. And no matter how you look at me, I will always look Asian."

In Tokyo, performing late Wednesday in the second week of the Olympic Games, she was in contention for a bronze medal.

In her final kata, the only American woman competing among the 40 athletes taking part in karate in Tokyo performed a suparinpei, which means one hundred and eight hands and contains techniques and variations that mimic crane movements. 

“I am happy to be back here in Japan. It was a very special Olympics,” Kokumai said after her competition ended. “Unfortunately, I am not able to go back with the hardware but I’m pretty proud with all the performances that I did.”

With karate not on the Paris program for 2024, Kokumai is hoping she’ll get another shot at a medal down the road.

“As a karate athlete, we have been doing this for the love of our sport. And I really hope that people are able to see what we do as athletes,” the karateka said. 

Watch Sakura Kokumai perform her kata at the Olympics.

With karate not on the Paris program for 2024, Kokumai is hoping she’ll get another shot at a medal down the road.

“As a karate athlete, we have been doing this for the love of our sport. And I really hope that people are able to see what we do as athletes,” the karateka said. “We train very hard — just like any other athlete — and I believe that we belong here in the Olympics. Unfortunately as of now, this is a first and last, but hopefully we will be able to make a comeback in the next few Olympics coming up.” 

Spain's Sandra Sanchez, known as the "queen of kata", won the gold medal on Thursday, defeating perennial rival and hometown favourite Kiyou Shimizu in the sport's historic debut at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Bronze medal went to Italy's Viviana Bottaro.  

“Got myself to the final medal round but not the result I wanted,” said Kokumai in an Instagram post. “A lot of thoughts crossing my mind, but one thing is for sure, I have no regrets.”

Tokyo Olympics: Despite surge of hate, AAPI athletes will represent America 'no matter what.'

Naomi Osaka has been outspoken against racial injustice in the U.S.K

It's one thing to represent your country, but the pressure intensifies when one has to represent your race. That is a heavy burden for AAPI athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Naomi Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and father is Haitian, grew up in the United States but plays for Japan where she was born, perhaps is the most outspoken example of the toll "representing" takes on an individual. 

Osaka plays for Japan and had to drop out of the French Open earlier this summer because of mental health issues. The four-time Grand Slam champion admitted that she has been struggling with depression.

Her biracial identity -- Japanese and Haitian -- and culturally, "American" could have contributed to her condition. After speaking out about racial justice during the U.S. Open last fall she made it clear where her sympathies were on behalf of the Black Lies Matter Movement. She was also outspoken against the recent surge of racist attacks against Asian Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“If people loved Asian people as much as they love bubble tea, anime, mochi, sushi, matcha etc…” tweeted Osaka, who has a Haitian father and a Japanese mother and has lived in the United States since she was three.

"Imagine profiting/enjoying things that come from a culture and then attacking/diminishing the ethnic group that created it,” she continued.

It was a powerful statement Friday, when she Osaka chosen to light the Olympic torch the product of two continents and three cultures. In a moving, dramatic moment, Osaka lit the Olympic flame to officially start the Games. Symbolically, her prominent presence holding her torch aloft, can be seen as permission to speak out on racial justice and inequality and representation.

Russell Jeung, a professor at San Francisco State University and the co-founder of the reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate, said athletes speaking out has been an important component in spreading awareness.

“I think that’s definitely helped,” he told Today. “It initially wasn’t getting much mainstream attention, but once Asian American athletes started talking about it and posting on social media, there was a lot more traffic.”

Asian Americans occupy a "conditional status of belonging" due to the perpetual foreigner stereotype, Jeung told an Axios reporter. "If they're winners, [Americans will] accept them because America likes to be winners. If they lose, then we'll get vilified and blamed."

That puts Asian Americans in an unfair "double bind," Jeung told Axios. They not only represent themselves and their countries, but also have to represent their race.

Like Black athletes, Asian Americans are representing a country that doesn't fully accept them, said Jeung. Stop AAPI Hate started collecting reports of anti-Asian attacks in March 2020. In a year's time, over 6,600 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents collected by the group, with the majority against women and girls. 

Sakura Kokumai will compete in karate. in Tokyo.

While victims of the attacks cut across all social strata, from elderly pensioners to Hollywood celebrities and Washington politicians. Although there was no breakdown of the incidents that occurred against athletes, Jeung said they did receive multiple reports of harassment from Asian joggers, professional basketball player Jeremy Lin was called "coronavirus" during a game and karate ka Sakura Kokumai,was verbally assaulted during one of her workouts in a public park in California.

"I was a target because of how I looked. Not because I am an athlete. Not because I compete in karate — but because I am Asian. And no matter how you look at me, I will always look Asian," said Kokumai, who will be at the Olympics competing in kata, a formalized routine of karate techniques.

Although she considers herself a private person, Kokumai, 28, felt the need to go out of her comfort zone to speak out.

"I wish there was one thing that would fix this problem, but the first step is spreading awareness. And then we have to have empathy and compassion for one another. Over time we can help change things in the world for the better.

"As a Japanese American who was born and raised in Hawaii, I have always considered the United States my home. Hawaii is where I learned karate when I was seven. The U.S. is the country I have competed for since I was 14. But Japan is where my family is from. 

"And now to be able to go back to Tokyo to compete in kata in the Olympics — to represent the United States in a sport that originated in Japan — it’s a very special thing. I have a lot of people in Japan and in the U.S. who are rooting for me, and I want to show up and do what I do best. It’s something that makes me proud to be Japanese American," said Kokumai. 

Yul Moldauer will represent America "no matter what."

The anti-Asian hate "shouldn't be normal," said U.S. gymnast Yul Moldauer“ to The Oklahoman. “Asian-Americans shouldn’t have to go through the name calling, the stereotypes and the jokes.”

"My job is to represent this country no matter what ... no matter if an individual feels like they need to say something or harass me," said Moldauer, a Korean American adoptee.

"I'm just going to put that (bigotry) away because there are so many other great Americans in this country I get to represent."

"There's a segment of the population that is ... always going to be thinking less of Asian Americans," said American East Conference commissioner Amy Huchthausen, who co-founded the AAPI Athletics Alliance this year. "But I hope that Asian American athletes representing Team USA use this moment to speak about it and bring more awareness to it ... There's power in athletes using their platform."