Rio 2016 : Yoshida seeking to extend extraordinary golden run
For 14 years, Saori Yoshida has maintained a remarkable record in major championships. Japan's captain is now eyeing a fourth Olympic gold.
Saori Yoshida may not have the global superstar status of a Usain Bolt or Neymar, but the Japanese wrestler heads to Rio 2016 aiming to extend a truly sensational run of success at major championships.
Since 2002, Yoshida has competed in three Olympic Games, four Asian Games and 13 World Championships. Remarkably, she has claimed a gold medal on each appearance.
The 33-year-old will therefore face high expectations from her homeland when she takes to the mat in Brazil, but is determined to rise to the challenge yet again.
"A fourth consecutive title is my dream for Rio. I've been working very hard to make this come true," Yoshida, the captain of Japan's 2016 Olympic team, told Omnisport.
"Only after hard training will this fourth title be possible. If I give up on the training, obviously I cannot achieve this. But I believe in the work I have done.
"It's been 12 years. This is my fourth Olympics. I've become old and maybe don't have as much stamina as before. But I will make the most of my experience and have a strong mentality to make up for my stamina."
Yoshida's triumphs in Athens, Beijing and London came in the 55kg weight division, but she will compete at 53kg in Rio after alterations were made to the Olympic classes.
In another change, the most decorated athlete in the history of freestyle wrestling has limited her competitive activity in the build-up to this year's Games - having suffered the only losses of her illustrious senior career in previous Olympic years (2008 and 2012).
"Before the Beijing and London Olympics, I had the wrestling World Cup, but we didn't have the tournament this year," Yoshida explained.
"There were some matches that I could play in abroad, [but] I wasn't desperate really to play in those games and I didn't want to give other players some chances to analyse me.
"I also wanted to avoid feeling down before the Olympics if I lost. So I chose to do training and conditioning in Japan and head to Rio."
Yoshida has yet to rule out the possibility of attempting to compete at a fifth Olympics, when the Games take place in Tokyo in 2020.
"Rio could be my swansong. It would be difficult to compete in another four years, but I'm not sure at the moment," added the veteran.
"I also feel like going for Tokyo 2020 may be possible. But I need to win in Rio first. So now I'm concentrating only on that, and doing my best to achieve it."
Worryingly for Yoshida's rivals, her best has always proved good enough until now.