List of Japanese Americans - List of Japanese Americans - Sports

Sports

  • Darwin Barney, MLB player, grandmother is from Japan and grandfather is from Korea.
  • Bryan Clay, 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the Decathlon
  • Rickie Fowler professional golfer, maternal grandfather is Japanese
  • Paul Fujii, professional boxer and WBA Junior Welterweight champion
  • Tadd Fujikawa, teen golfer
  • Corey Gaines, NBA player
  • Miki Gorman, two-time winner of both the Boston and New York City marathons; former American and unofficial world record holder in the marathon
  • Jeremy Guthrie, MLB player, mother is of Japanese descent
  • Hiroto Hirashima, member of the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame
  • Christian Hosoi, professional skateboarder
  • Bryan Iguchi, professional snowboarder
  • Kyoko Ina, first place in the 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships (pairs)
  • Rena Inoue, first place in the 2004 and 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships (pairs)
  • Travis Ishikawa, MLB player
  • Evelyn Kawamoto won two Olympic bronze medals in swimming in 1952.
  • Ford Konno, former world record holder, two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time Olympic silver medalist in swimming (1952 and 1956).
  • Tommy Kono, former world record holder, two-time Olympic gold medalist and Olympic silver medalist in weightlifting (1952, 1956, and 1960).
  • Shogo Kubo, professional skateboarder
  • Brandon League, MLB player
  • Mike Lum, first American of Japanese ancestry to play in the major leagues
  • Wataru Misaka, professional basketball pioneer, broke the NBA color barrier in 1947
  • Mirai Nagasu, won the singles title at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
  • Hikaru Nakamura, chess grandmaster and US champion (2005, 2009, and 2012)
  • Keo Nakama (1920–2011), swimmer and world record holder
  • Corey Nakatani, jockey with seven wins in Breeders' Cup races
  • Teiko Nishi, Sansei, women's basketball starter for UCLA
  • Apolo Anton Ohno, won eight Olympic medals in short-track speed skating (two gold) in 2002, 2006, and 2010, as well as a world cup championship.
  • Yoshinobu Oyakawa former world record holder and 1952 Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter backstroke.
  • Harold Sakata (1920–1982), 1948 Olympic silver medalist weightlifter, actor, and wrestler
  • Lenn Sakata, Professional baseball player for the World Series Champions Baltimore Orioles
  • Eric Sato won an 1988 Olympic gold medal in volleyball
  • Liane Sato won an 1992 Olympic bronze medal in volleyball
  • Alex Shibutani, figure skater
  • Maia Shibutani, figure skater, Alex Shibutani's younger sister
  • Kurt Suzuki, MLB player
  • Robert Swift, NBA player
  • Derek Tatsuno, baseball player and selected to the All-Time All-Star Team of Collegiate Baseball America
  • Shane Victorino, Sansei, MLB player
  • Don Wakamatsu, Yonsei, Major League Baseball's first Japanese-American manager
  • Rex Walters, NBA player
  • Kristi Yamaguchi, Yonsei, won three national figure skating championships, two world titles, and the 1992 Olympic Gold medal.
  • Lindsey Yamasaki, Professional basketball player (Miami Sol, New York Liberty, San Jose Spiders), Stanford University (basketball, volleyball)
  • Roger Yasukawa, auto-racing driver (IRL)
  • Wally Kaname Yonamine (1925–2011), football player, first Japanese American in the NFL, as well as a professional baseball player in Nippon Professional Baseball League

Read more about this topic:  List Of Japanese Americans, List of Japanese Americans

Famous quotes containing the word sports:

    “...I didn’t come to this with any particular cachet. I was just a person who grew up in the United States. And when I looked around at the people who were sportscasters, I thought they were just people who grew up in the United States, too. So I thought, Why can’t a woman do it? I just assumed everyone else would think it was a swell idea.”
    —Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 85 (June 17, 1991)

    “Guys do not have a genetic blueprint that allows them to understand or love sports.”
    —Lesley Visser, U.S. sports reporter and announcer. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 82 (June 17, 1991)

    “Short of a wholesale reform of college athletics—a complete breakdown of the whole system that is now focused on money and power—the women’s programs are just as doomed as the men’s are to move further and further away from the academic mission of their colleges.... We have to decide if that’s the kind of success for women’s sports that we want.”
    —Christine H. B. Grant, U.S. university athletic director. As quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A42 (May 12, 1993)