Yuki Ota is one of the major names of world fencing, both as a competitor and behind the scenes. He won individual and team silver medals at consecutive Olympic Games and is a former World Champion. He also has five medals from various Asian Games tournaments. He retired from competition in 2016 but remains a member of both the International Olympic Committee and the athletes commission of the International Fencing Federation. He is popular on Instagram, with over 21,000 followers.

Ota was born in Otsu, Japan, in November 1985. His father was a keen fencer and an influence in his son taking the sport up in elementary school. He later won a hat-trick of national high school championships. He competed in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but it was perhaps too soon for him, and he felt overwhelmed — he even considered quitting fencing afterwards. Thankfully, he continued, beginning training again in 2006 and soon winning a gold medal at that year’s Asian Games. He then qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This time he was ready and he won silver. At his third Olympics, in London in 2012, he helped the Japanese team to win silver.

In 2015, Ota had a historic victory when he became the first Japanese fencer to win a World Championship gold medal, triumphing in the individual tournament in Moscow. It proved to be his last major medal too, as he called it a day at the end of the 2015/16 season. However, he has remained an active member of the Olympic and fencing communities.