Ryusei Nishioka

Nishioka was born on November 1, 2003, in Higashiōsaka and began artistic gymnastics when he was two years old.^[3] He switched to trampoline gymnastics in grade one of primary school.^[4] As of 2024, he studies law at Kindai University.^[1] Despite competing in trampoline gymnastics, he is afraid of heights and will not ride roller coasters, and he does not enjoy the sport.^[5]

Nishioka won the title at the 2015 All-Japan Junior Championships when he was in grade six.^[4] He competed at his first World Age Group Competition in 2017 and won the individual silver medal in the 13–14 age group.^[6] At the 2018 Pacific Championships, he won a gold medal in the team event.^[7] He also won a bronze medal in the junior individual event and a silver medal in the synchronized event with Motoki Nakayama.^[8] He then won the individual bronze medal at the 2018 World Age Group Competition in the 15–16 age group.^[9]

Nishioka won the All-Japan Championships at the senior level in both 2020 and 2021.^[4] He was initially not age-eligible for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but the one-year postponement of the Games gave him the opportunity to compete. He was selected as the alternate for Japan's team.^[4][5] He won a silver medal in the individual event at the 2021 Brescia World Cup.^[10]

During the 2021 World Championships in Baku, Nishioka successfully competed a routine with seven triple somersaults. His difficulty score was 18.900, which broke the world record difficulty score for trampoline gymnastics.^[1][4][11] With this routine, he won the silver medal in the individual event behind China's Yan Langyu due to a lower execution score.^[12] He also won a silver medal in the individual team event.^[13]

Nishioka won the individual title at the 2022 Coimbra World Cup, and he won a silver medal in synchronized trampoline with Yamato Ishikawa.^[14] One week later at the Arosa World Cup, he once again won the individual title.^[15] At the 2022 World Championships, he finished second in the individual qualification round.^[16] However, he tore his meniscus in the left knee during the semifinal round and withdrew from the competition. He had surgery in December and missed three months of training.^[1]

Nishioka returned to competition at the 2023 Coimbra World Cup,^[3] but he did not advance beyond the semifinal round after finishing tenth.^[17] Then at the Palm Beach World Cup, he finished fourth in the individual event.^[18] Then at the Varna World Cup, he won the bronze medal behind Chinese athletes Yan Langyu and Wang Zisai.^[19] He once again won the bronze medal in the individual event at the 2023 World Championships behind Yan and Wang.^[20]

Nishioka finished fifth in the individual event at the 2024 Cottbus World Cup despite a routine with six triple somersaults.^[21] Then at the Arosa World Cup, he only finished 23rd in the semifinals and did not advance.^[3] He represented Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics and was aiming to win Japan's first Olympic medal in trampoline gymnastics.^[5][22] During the qualification round for the individual event, he was unable to complete both of his routines, and he finished in last place and did not advance to the finals.^[23][24]