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The story
At the Asian Games gymnastics competition held in Nagoya, Aichi, 27-year-old Aiko Sugihara won Japan’s first-ever gold medal in the women’s individual all-around. 16-year-old Misa Nishiyama took bronze. Sugihara drew attention back in her high school days, retired from the sport once, then returned — going on to win the All-Japan Championships and an individual-event gold at the World Championships — before finally reaching this peak. On 5ch’s “Sports Express+” board, the thread filled up with congratulations, alongside questions about why women’s gymnastics gets so little terrestrial TV coverage, and debate over uniform choices.
Sports Nippon
[September 23, 2026, 05:30]
Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya, Day 4 (September 22, 2026)
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Seriously, media — cover more of these Japanese athletes doing great things, you clowns.
That's amazing, isn't she the one who retired once?
Respect for the hard work.
she finally ditched the shorts style?
Her results got better after she stopped wearing the shorts, so I guess a high-cut leotard really is easier to move in.
Isn't it just that international meets require the official Japan team uniform, not a personal choice?
She's repping Japan, so she can't just wear her own personal uniform.
Barely any articles came out about this last night either — makes me wonder if reporters even know women's gymnastics is happening.
Isn't it on U-NEXT?
Men's gymnastics gets live broadcasts even when they don't win gold.
Women's volleyball earned a permanent terrestrial broadcast slot at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and the Matsudaira Japan men's volleyball team did the same in 1972.
For a similar reason, men's gymnastics has a permanent "seeded" broadcast spot, but women's gymnastics doesn't.
Having a major corporate sponsor behind you matters too — women's gymnastics runs on a club-by-club basis, and none of them seem to have especially heavy backing.
If we're going down that road, it's way weirder that high school baseball gets live coverage every year starting from the regional qualifiers.
The men have Hashimoto and Oka — Olympic gold medalists who are among the best in the world.
The gymnastics world needs to make better use of her.
The treatment is completely different from when Rie Tanaka was around.
What exactly is the difference, I wonder.
Probably because it's the official team uniform.
But even the athletes themselves can't agree on this.
It's not like the country forces every woman to wear one — if you hate it, you can quit, or just do your own thing.
If she's not competing in baggy shorts at international meets too, isn't that a bit hypocritical?
I've also heard it's more that the shorts were made for girls who quit the sport because they hate leotards, and she wears them for promotional purposes — so which is it?
Also, for competitions like this, the maker supplying the uniforms probably has a contract with the JOC or the governing body, so athletes likely can't just wear whatever they personally want anyway.
Background and Talking Points
Aiko Sugihara drew attention as far back as her high school days — she even got an NHK feature — but after retiring from competition once, she went through a long stretch of failing to establish herself among Japan’s top gymnasts. It was only in her late twenties, after winning the All-Japan Championships and an individual-event gold at the World Championships, that she finally claimed the individual all-around title at this Asian Games. What got the thread talking was the gap between men’s gymnastics, which gets live terrestrial broadcasts, and women’s gymnastics, which gets far less coverage. Commenters pointed to “permanent broadcast rights” — like the ones women’s volleyball earned at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and men’s volleyball earned in 1972 — as evidence that past achievements and the backing (or lack thereof) of major corporations shape broadcast slots, and that women’s gymnastics reportedly lacks that kind of backing. There was also debate over uniforms — leotards versus shorts — a topic that’s easy to misread if you don’t know that athletes representing Japan can’t simply choose their own attire.
*This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Sports Express+) thread “[Asian Games Gymnastics] 27-Year-Old “Rare Character” Aiko Sugihara Pulls Off a Historic Feat! Japan’s First-Ever Gold in the Women’s Individual All-Around! 16-Year-Old Misa Nishiyama Takes Bronze.”
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