Keiko Tanaka-Ikeda

Japan’s Keiko Tanaka-Ikeda was the first female gymnast from her country to win a world title when she won gold in the balance beam at the 1954 World Championships in Roma. From 1958 to 1966 Tanaka-Ikeda won seven more medals at the World Championships including a silver on the uneven bars. She competed at three consecutive Olympic Games; 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Roma, and 1964 Tokyo, where she won bronze in the team all-round event at her home Games.

After her retirement from the sport Tanaka-Ikeda became a director of the Japanese Gymnastics Association. In 2002 she was the first Japanese woman to be inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.