Ryo Kiyuna

At the 2012 World Karate Championships held in Paris, France, Kiyuna won one of the bronze medals in the men's individual kata event.^[5] The following year, he represented Japan at the 2013 World Games in Cali, Colombia and he won the bronze medal in the men's kata event.^[6]

In 2014, at the World Karate Championships held in Bremen, Germany, Kiyuna won the gold medal in the men's individual kata event.^[5][7] At the 2016 World Karate Championships held in Linz, Austria, he won the gold medal in both the men's individual and men's team kata events.^[5][7][8] In 2017, Kiyuna won the gold medal in the men's kata event at the World Games held in Wrocław, Poland.^[5][9][10] In the final, he defeated Damián Quintero of Spain.^[10]

At the 2018 Asian Karate Championships held in Amman, Jordan, Kiyuna won the gold medal in the men's kata event.^[11] A month later, he won the gold medal in the men's kata event at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia.^[5][2][12] In the final, he defeated Wang Yi-ta of Taiwan. In 2019, at the Asian Karate Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he won the gold medal in both the men's individual kata and men's team kata events.^[13][14]

Kiyuna represented Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.^[15][16] He won the gold medal in the men's kata event,^[17][18] becoming Japan's first gold medalist from Okinawa.^[19] In the final, he defeated Damián Quintero of Spain.^[20] He was also the flag bearer for Japan during the closing ceremony.^[21] A few months after the Olympics, he won the gold medal in the men's kata event at the 2021 World Karate Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.^[22][23] In December 2021, he won the gold medal in both the men's individual and men's team kata events at the Asian Karate Championships held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.^[24][25]

He studied at Okinawa International University.^[1] In December 2020, he contracted COVID-19.^[26]

Kiyuna's mother died in 2019 at the age of 57. At the gold medal ceremony for kata at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Kiyuna paid tribute to his mother's support by carrying a framed picture of her during the proceedings.^[27][28]