"Worked as a Hostess After Retirement"... Japan Shocked by the Current Status of Former Two-Time Olympic Gymnast

Japanese Gymnastics Prodigy Nijiko Tsurumi

Reveals Struggling to Make Ends Meet by Working in Nightlife Industry After Retirement

Now Devoted to Gymnastics Education and Idol Training Business

Former Japanese national gymnast Nijiko Tsurumi. Instagram capture

Former Japanese national gymnast Nijiko Tsurumi (33), who was once known as a "genius girl" in Japan, has revealed that she worked at an adult entertainment venue after retirement, shocking the Japanese public. Despite her brilliant career, including "consecutive appearances at two Olympic Games" and "six straight wins at the All-Japan Championships," Tsurumi was forced to endure harsh poverty and cold social treatment after retiring. Her story goes beyond an individual's struggles, exposing the harsh conditions faced by elite athletes in Japanese sports.

The 'genius girl' who dominated the All-Japan Championships... The harsh reality after a career-ending injury

According to Japanese media outlet Chanto on July 22, Tsurumi was a star athlete who represented Japanese gymnastics. She claimed her first All-Japan Championship title in 2006 at the age of 14, then went on to win six consecutive titles through 2011, and participated in both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. However, when she suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in 2015, she ended her athletic career early at the age of 23.

However, after devoting 18 years solely to gymnastics, Tsurumi faced steep obstacles upon entering society. She took a job at a startup while exploring a coaching career and helped to establish a gymnastics academy, but the salary was so low that she could not support herself, so she did not last long. Afterwards, she spent about five years working various part-time jobs, including at restaurants and handing out free tissues and flyers on the street.

Reflecting on that time, Tsurumi said, "As someone who once competed as an Olympic athlete, I often questioned myself while distributing flyers on the street: 'What if I had studied hard and gone to a good university instead of focusing on gymnastics?' I was tormented with self-doubt." She added, "Even national team athletes with specialized expertise are undervalued in society after retirement, simply because all they did was sports. I felt a deep sense of crisis in the reality that instead of inspiring my juniors, I could barely make a living."

"I wanted to learn about success"... Why she chose to work in nightlife

Determined to start her own business, Tsurumi chose a bold path—working in the adult entertainment industry. She judged that such nightlife venues were realistically the most effective places to meet successful entrepreneurs and executives, learn business know-how directly, and build valuable connections.

However, the process was far from smooth. She recalled, "I interviewed at more than 10 places in Roppongi but was rejected everywhere." She explained, "At 27, as a former athlete with no regular customers, the world of nightlife was cold to me." Over the course of one year, she gradually built up her own client list and business results and later expanded her work area from Roppongi to Ginza.

Former Japanese national gymnastics team member Nijiko Tsurumi. Instagram capture

In the early days, she was also deeply afraid of damaging her public image. "I was worried about what might happen if a news article came out," she said. "But even so, my determination to learn directly from business people so I could run a company was stronger."

Leaving the nightlife industry for a new life... "I won't pass on a harsh reality to the next generation"

Now, Tsurumi has left the nightlife industry entirely and operates a gymnastics education business, while also working on nurturing idols. She aims to raise the popularity of gymnastics, which is a less popular sport, by combining elements of idol culture, and has also set a goal to reform the chronic low-wage structure that is entrenched in the gymnastics world.

She said, "If even Olympic athletes aren't guaranteed a stable life after retirement, there is no future for the next generation," and added, "It is too cruel to keep training athletes in these conditions." She emphasized, "To ensure my juniors don't inherit the hardships I've experienced, urgent structural reform in the sports community and institutional support for retired athletes are needed."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.