Yoichi Iijima (飯島 洋一, Iijima Yoichi, born 21 October 1978) is a Japanese sailor, who specialized in the Laser class.[1] He nabbed a silver medal in men's Laser at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, and was selected to the Japanese sailing team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing thirty-fifth in the process.[2][3] Throughout his sporting career, Iijima trained for Laser Zuyo Fleet in Kanagawa under his longtime coach Tomoyuki Sasaki.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yoichi Iijima | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Japan | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 October 1978 Tokyo, Japan | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sailing career | |||||||||||||||
| Class | Dinghy | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Laser Zuyo Fleet | ||||||||||||||
| Coach | Tomoyuki Sasaki | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Born in Tokyo, Iijima burst onto the international sailing scene at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, where he picked up the silver medal in the Laser class with 31 marks, edging out the defending Asian Games champion Kim Ho-kon of South Korea by a close, four-point margin.[2][4][5]
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Iijima qualified for the Japanese team in the Laser class after having secured a berth and finishing tenth from the Laser World Championships in Terrigal, New South Wales, Australia.[6] Iijima sailed brilliantly from the start with satisfying marks, but a black flag penalty in the middle leg of the eleven-race series, a disastrous eighth-leg feat, and a cancellation of the last race due to inclement weather dropped him to thirty-fifth in the overall leaderboard with a net grade of 235.[7]
References edit
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Yoichi Iijima". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ a b "Japan wins three karate golds, silver in volleyball". The Japan Times. 14 December 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ 北京五輪・セーリング競技出場の飯島洋一選手、横浜市長表敬訪問 [Yoichi Iijima participates in sailing at the Beijing Olympics; a courtesy visit to the Mayor of Yokohama] (in Japanese). Hamaspo.com. 24 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "Sailing races move into final stages at Doha Asiad". Xinhua. China Daily. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "Medals Decided In Mistral and Laser". ISAF. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "Slingsby declared 2008 Laser World Champion". ISAF. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "Beijing 2008: Men's Laser Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
External links edit
- Yoichi Iijima at World Sailing
- Yoichi Iijima at Olympics.com
- Yoichi Iijima at Olympedia
- NBC 2008 Olympics profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 January 2014)
- Japanese Olympic Team Profile (in Japanese)
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