This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
At just 13 years old, Mahiro Takano has already achieved a black belt in karate and is a rising star in the sport. However, her Olympic dreams will have to wait as she's too young to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
According to AFP, Mahiro has been training in karate since she was a toddler and has helped put the sport on the map in Japan. She has appeared in commercials and acted as an ambassador for the sport, but her Olympic debut will have to wait.
"It has been my dream to win an Olympic gold medal since I was small," Mahiro told AFP after training in her hometown of Nagaoka, a two-hour bullet train ride north of Tokyo. "It's sad that the Olympics are coming to Tokyo and I can't take part because of my age."
Despite her disappointment, Mahiro remains focused on her training and is determined to compete in future Olympics. "It gives me incentive to compete at future Olympics when I'm bigger," she said. "I'll watch the Tokyo Olympics and learn from the world's best to be ready when my time comes."
However, karate's exclusion from the 2024 Paris Olympics may make it an uphill struggle for Mahiro to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. "It's just achieved Olympic status, which is a great chance to raise the sport's profile in Japan," said Takako Kikuchi, Mahiro's coach. "It's a shock for everyone involved in karate."
