Tuesday, July 31, 2012: Alphaville - Big In Japan

Next up, Japan:

Best Sports: The Japanese excel at judo, a sport developed in their own country, as well as gymnastics, swimming and wrestling.

Star Performers Swimmer Kosuke Kitajima won two golds in 2004 and followed it up with two more golds- and a world record- in 2008. Other hopes for 2012 include judoka Keiji Suzuki, who triumphed in Athens but will want to put his lacklustre Beijing performance behind him, and wrestling queen Saori Yoshida, who has two Olympic golds and eight world championship titles to her name. Past Japanese Olympic greats include Naoko Takashi, marathon gold medalist in 2000, tiny judoka Tamara Ryoka, who took two gold medals in 2000 and 2004, despite being less than 5ft tall, and gymnasts Sawao Kato and Akinori Nakayama, who won seven golds between them in the 1960s and 70s.


Olympic Medal History 123 Gold, 112 Silver, 125 Bronze

Medal Total: 360

Olympic Debut: 1912 Total Games appearances: 20

All Olympic information is courtesy of The Telegraph, and their excellent Olympics Country Profile page)