Seiko Yamamoto

Seiko Yamamoto (山本 聖子, Yamamoto Seiko; born 22 August 1980^[1]) is a Japanese wrestler and submission grappler. She is a four time World Wrestling Champion, two time Asian Wrestling Champion and an ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship medallist.^[2]

Seiko Yamamoto 山本 聖子
Born	(1980-08-22) 22 August 1980 (age 44) Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Native name	山本 聖子
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Other information
Spouse	Hideaki Nagashima ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2014)​ Yu Darvish ​ (m. 2016)​
Medal record Representing  Japan Submission Grappling ADCC World Championships 2013 Beijing 60 kg ADCC Asian and Oceanic Championships 2013 Tokyo 60 kg Women's freestyle wrestling World Championships 1999 Boden 51 kg 2000 Sofia 56 kg 2001 Sofia 56 kg 2003 New York 59 kg Asian Championships 1997 Taipei 51 kg 2006 Almaty 59 kg

Family

Her father is Ikuei Yamamoto, who also competed in the Olympics as a wrestler. Her older brother is mixed martial artist Norifumi Yamamoto. Her sister Miyuu Yamamoto is female wrestler and mixed martial artist who won three world titles and one Asian Wrestling Championship in her career.^[3]

Wrestling career

In four years from 1999 till 2003, she collected four gold medals at the World Wrestling Championships. Because she lost at the Japan Queen's Cup to Saori Yoshida, she was unable to participate at the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[4] In 2007, she got married and briefly retired. In 2009 she returned to competition, and won a championship at the Poland Open.

Submission wrestling

In 2013, she participated in the "submission fighting" competitions sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. She was under-60 kg champion at the Tokyo ADCC trials.^[5] She won the under-60 kg bronze at the 2013 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship.^[6]

Coaching career

She was a coach with the US Women's Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team before and during the 2016 Olympics.^[7]

Personal life

In 2006 she married team handball player Hideaki Nagashima and briefly retired. In 2007 they had a son. They were divorced in 2014.

In 2014, she began a relationship with baseball pitcher Yu Darvish. On 29 July 2015, their son was born.^[8] In 2016, Darvish and Yamamoto married. They had four additional children by 2022.^[7]

Awards

• Tokyo Sports
  • Wrestling Special Award (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003)^[9][10]