Kaya Kazuma (萱 和磨, born 19 November 1996) is a Japanese artistic gymnast. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning silver with the Japanese team and bronze in the pommel horse. He again competed at the 2024 games as part of the Japanese team which won gold in the all-around competition. He is also a two-time World champion with the Japanese team (2015, 2023) and a two-time World medalist on the pommel horse (2021 silver, 2015 bronze). He is the 2019 Universiade team and all-around champion.
Early life
Kaya began gymnastics in 2004 at the age of eight. He was inspired by watching the Japanese artistic gymnastics team win gold in the team event at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.[3][4]
While in middle school, Kaya moved to Narashino to train with one of the top gymnastics schools.[5]
Career
Kaya won the all-around title at the 2014 National High School Championships, and he finished 27th at the 2014 All-Japan Championships.[5]
2015
Kaya joined the Juntendo University team and made his national team debut in 2015.[1] At the Asian Championships in Hiroshima, Kaya won a gold medal with the Japanese team. He also placed third in the all-around, but due to the two-per-country rule, he did not receive the bronze medal as he placed behind Ryōhei Katō and Yusuke Tanaka. He then won the gold medal in the pommel horse final and the bronze medal in the parallel bars final.[6] He then competed at the World Championships and helped the Japanese team qualify for the final in first place and earn a team berth for the 2016 Olympic Games.[7] Then in the team final, he competed on the pommel horse and helped the team win the gold medal.[8] Individually, Kaya qualified for the all-around final where he finished in 10th place.[9] Then in the pommel horse final, he tied with Armenia's Harutyun Merdinyan for the bronze medal.[10]
2016–17
Kaya won a silver medal on the still rings and a bronze medal on the parallel bars at the 2016 Baku World Cup.[11] He was an alternate for Japan's 2016 Olympic team.[12]
Kaya won a silver medal in the all-around behind Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev at the 2017 Stuttgart World Cup.[13] Then at the Szombathely World Challenge Cup, he won gold medals on the pommel horse and parallel bars.[14]
Kaya won a bronze medal in the all-around at the Birmingham World Cup behind Nikita Nagornyy and Sun Wei.[21] He was then selected to represent Japan at the 2019 Summer Universiade, winning the team gold medal alongside brothers Wataru and Kakeru Tanigawa.[22] Then in the all-around final, Kaya won the gold medal by nearly three points ahead of Russia's Ivan Stretovich.[23] In the event finals, he won silver on the floor exercise and bronze on the pommel horse.[24][25] Kaya then competed at the World Championships alongside the Tanigawa brothers, Daiki Hashimoto, and Yuya Kamoto, and they won the bronze medal behind Russia and China.[26] He then placed sixth in the all-around final for the second consecutive year.[27] Then in the parallel bars final, he won the bronze medal behind Joe Fraser and Ahmet Önder, which was Japan's only individual medal at these World Championships.[28]
2020
Kaya was scheduled to compete at both the Stuttgart and Birmingham World Cups.[29][30] However, both of these events were postponed to 2021 and eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[31][32] In November, Kaya competed at the Friendship and Solidarity Competition in Tokyo, competing as part of Team Friendship who lost to Team Solidarity.[33] Then in December, he won his first national all-around title at the All-Japan Championships.[34]
2021
Kaya won the bronze medal in the all-around at the All-Japan Championships,[35] and he won the silver medal in the all-around at the NHK Trophy, qualifying for the Olympic team.[36]
At the 2021 World Championships held in Kitakyushu, Kaya won the silver on the pommel horse,[38] and he placed sixth on both the floor exercise and parallel bars.[39] After the World Championships, he competed at the All-Japan Team Championships, helping Central Sports win the bronze medal.[40]
At the 2023 Cottbus World Cup, Kaya won a silver medal on the floor exercise and a bronze medal on the horizontal bar.[43] He then competed at the World University Games and won a silver medal with the Japanese team. Individually, he won a gold medal on the floor exercise and bronze medals in the all-around and on the parallel bars.[44] He was selected to compete at the World Championships alongside Kenta Chiba, Daiki Hashimoto, Kazuki Minami, and Kaito Sugimoto.[45] The Japanese team won the World title for the first time since 2015, with Kaya being the only member of the 2015 team still competing.[46] Kaya initially qualified for the all-around final behind teammate Chiba and ahead of Hashimoto, who would not be able to compete in the final due to the two-per-country rule.[47] However, the Japanese coaching team pulled Kaya out of the final in favor of Hashimoto.[48] Kaya did compete in the parallel bars final, where he finished fourth.[49] After the World Championships, he once again competed at the Swiss Cup Zürich with Chiaki Hatakeda, and they won the silver medal behind the American team.[50]
Kaya was presented with the Narashino Mayor Award in 2014. He also won the Inzai Citizen Honorary Award in 2015 and 2021, and in 2021, he received the Chiba Citizen Honorary Award.[54]
Personal life
As of 2023, Kaya is studying for a doctoral degree in sports science from Juntendo University.[44] On 11 January 2022, Kaya registered for marriage with his longtime girlfriend.[55]
^ ab"萱和磨（千葉・習志野3年）体操個人総合の新星 全国高校選抜初優勝" [Kazuma Kaya (3rd year, Narashino, Chiba) A rising star in the gymnastics individual all-around, first-time winner of the National High School Championships]. Koukousei Shinbun (in Japanese). 10 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^Yamaguchi, Shiro (14 December 2020). "体操新王者・萱和磨が「ミスをしない男」になるまで" [How the new gymnastics champion, Kazuma Kaya, became "the man who never makes mistakes"]. Asahi (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^"体操・ＮＨＫ杯で優勝の橋本大輝、初の五輪団体代表内定…２位の萱和磨も" [Gymnastics - Daiki Hashimoto, winner of the NHK Cup, has been selected for his first Olympic team representative... Kazuma Kaya, who came in second, has also been selected]. Yomiuri (in Japanese). 16 May 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^"第75回全日本体操団体選手権" [The 75th All Japan Gymnastics Team Championships] (PDF). Japan Gymnastics Association (in Japanese). 12 December 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^"東京五輪・体操団体銀の萱和磨が結婚報告「幸せな家庭を築いていきたい」" [Tokyo Olympics gymnastics team silver medalist Kazuma Kaya announces marriage: "I want to build a happy family"]. Oricon News (in Japanese). 11 January 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
