Ai Otomo-Yamamoto

Ai Otomo-Yamamoto
Ai Otomo-Yamamoto 2012
portrait
Date of birth	March 24, 1982
place of birth	Sendai, Japan
size	1.84 m
position	Middle block
societies
2000–2006 2008–2009 2009–2013	NEC Red Rockets Hisamitsu Springs JT Marvelous
National team
2001–2012	A national team
successes
1999 2002 2003 2004 2004 2005 2009 2010 2010 2011 2012	U18 world champion Japanese runners-up Japanese champions Japanese champions Olympic fifths Third Asian championships Japanese runners-up Japanese runners-up World Championships third Japanese champions Olympic bronze
As of August 21, 2012

Ai Otomo-Yamamoto ( Japanese 大 友 (- 山 本) 愛 ; born March 24, 1982 in Sendai as Ai Otomo ) is a Japanese volleyball player . She took part in two Olympic Games and won the bronze medal in 2012.

Career

Otomo-Yamamoto began her career at Sendaiikuei High School. In 1999 she won the U-18 World Cup with the Japanese youth. In 2000 she joined NEC Red Rockets . The following year she made her debut at the tournament in Montreux in the Japanese national team . With the club she became Japanese runner-up in 2002. The middle blocker then took part in the World Cup in Germany . In 2003 and 2004 she won the title in the Japanese league with NEC Red Rockets. In Athens she reached the quarter-finals with the national team and thus placed fifth in the 2004 Olympic tournament . A year later, Japan finished third in the Asian Cup . After taking a break from 2006 to 2008, Otomo-Yamamoto played one season at Hisamitsu Springs and was runner-up in 2009. She achieved the same success in 2010 with her new club JT Marvelous . At the 2010 World Cup , she came third with Japan. In 2011 she won the championship again. Internationally she was second in the Asian Cup, but missed the World Cup due to a knee injury . In 2012 she took part in the Olympic Games in London and won the bronze medal.

Private

Otomo-Yamamoto married the beach volleyball player Tatsuo Yamamoto in 2006 . In the same year she interrupted her sports career because of a pregnancy.

Web links

• Ai Otomo-Yamamoto in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Profile at FIVB (English)
• Profile at JT Marvelous (Japanese)