Rika Usami The Undisputed Queen of Karate Kata 2012 Final World Championships Paris

Rika Usami(宇佐美 里香, Usami Rika, born February 20, 1986)is a Japanesekarateka. She won a Gold medal inindividual kataat the2012 World Karate Championshipsafter previously winning Bronze at the2010 Championships. She also won Gold in the same category at the 2010Asian Games. As of March 2021, Usami is coaching the karate team atKokushikan University. Usami was born on February 20, 1986 inTokyo, Japan. She had said in an interview that she started karate when she was 10 years old by joining aGojuryustyle dojo located near her familys house in Tokyo, after seeing a female fighter on television. Her older brother had been practicing karate and let Usami wear hiskarate gion occasions, so that helped her a lot when she decided to eventually start practicing karate herself. Usamis first karate tournament was when she was a green belt at 12 years old in elementary school. Usami did not participate in big tournaments until age 15 and won her first