As he begins his transition moving to Scotland to start a new chapter in his career, current Olympic champion Shohei Ono and his former coach and double Olympic medalist Shinji Hosokawa dropped by for lunch with our team.
After calling time on a glittering judo career, which saw him win two Olympic gold medals and three world championships, Shohei Ono has begun his life in coaching.
His first port of call, moving to Edinburgh to undertake English lessons. In doing so, Shohei follows Masashi Ebinuma and Yoko Tanabe most recently in coming to the UK where there are fantastic all-round opportunities to kickstart a career in coaching.
Widely regarded as one of the best judoka to ever grace the mat, JudoScotland were delighted to welcome him to our office and dojo.
Our CEO Judith McCleary said: “Following Shohei’s retirement as an athlete, it is a huge honour that he has chosen to base himself in Edinburgh where he is enrolled as a student, with his primary focus on improving his English.
“Shohei has made a number of international judo event commitments over the next few months so he certainly won’t be at a loose end! The most important things for us at JudoScotland is to ensure Shohei is supported as he adjusts to a very different routine. We have extended our offering and know that the judo family will endeavour to help him feel at home.
“A lot of Shohei’s attention will be on his intense studies and we will offer suitable opportunities, when time allows, for Shohei to get involved with JudoScotland and British Judo activities, ensuring the best experiences possible for him during this exciting chapter.”
We can’t wait to see Shohei Ono at The Gathering on September 30th, where he will be joining Masashi Ebinuma and Kana (Abe) Ebinuma to deliver an exciting weekend of Judo.
Judoka attending will have the fantastic opportunity to learn from the very best of the sport as Shohei will be delivering a guest session sharing his immense skill set with the Scottish Judo community.
Though tickets for this event are fully sold out, you can join the waiting list by emailing events@judoscotland.com