Sena Irie, a girl who vowed to win a gold medal at 20, made her dream come to fruition with a historic victory in women's featherweight boxing at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday.
Her start in the sport came after she read a boxing-based manga, and just like the hero in the story, she has risen to the top of the world.
"I'm not sure I fully comprehend being a gold medalist, but I'm proud to be one," Irie said at a Wednesday press conference.
When she was in the second grade, she read her mother Mami's copy of the manga "Ganbare Genki" and soon fell in love with it. The story depicts the exploits of a boy named Genki who follows in his late father's footsteps and becomes a world champion.
After buying up every volume of the manga at a used book store and reading them cover to cover, stars began to glimmer in her eyes and she was determined to box.
Mami, 48, was first opposed to the idea, but Sena would not give up. Her mother finally relented and sent Sena to a local boxing gym in their hometown of Yonago, Tottori Prefecture.
Irie, who had been using rolled up newspaper as gloves and emulating poses she saw in the manga, was delighted with the feel of real gloves and went to the gym almost every day.
Her enjoyment can be seen in the notebooks in which she wrote about her daily workouts and training assignments. When she was in the sixth grade, she scratched into her notebook the mention of a "secret plan," that "I will be selected for the Olympics and win a gold medal at 20 years old!!"
She was undefeated until junior high school, and won the national championship in her third year of high school.
In March last year, she was the runner-up in the Asia-Oceania qualifying round and became the first Japanese woman to earn a spot at the Olympics. Since then, she has always smiled when entering the ring, as she believes smiles bring her good luck.
Before the Olympics began, she received a nice present. "Ganbare Genki" author Yu Koyama drew a portrait of Irie and added the message: "Ganbare [Go for it], Sena" on a thick sheet of paper. After the bout, Koyama commented publicly: "This is a really happy event for me, too. Thank you very much for the inspiration!"
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