Rei Higuchi made the headlines yet again! Higuchi won gold in the men’s 57 kg event at the Paris Olympics in 2024. He is no stranger to the podium! In 2016, he won an Olympic silver. Higuchi, however, has been in the spotlight lately for his truth bombs on social media. The saga begins when an X user praises the good looks of wrestlers. And went on to say, “The All Japan Championships are usually held in Tokyo and tickets are about 1000 yen, so please come and see them.” A picture of Japanese wrestling stars accompanied the tweet. But Higuchi was not going to let this conversation be simply about looks!

Higuchi reposted the same and said, “With 11 medals, including 8 gold medals, it’s up to the association to make the most of these or not. To make the sport more accessible to the general public, I think the first step to increasing the number of new fans and participants would be to provide simple rule explanations, make the sound and lighting more spectacular like overseas competitions, and engage in advertising and PR activities on social media and in the media.”

So why all the noise? Higuchi’s tweet is about the clear frustration around how the sport is being marketed and presented. It is not just a comment, but a call to action for the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA) to be better. The Wakayama Prefecture Wrestling Association, a sub-division of JWA, has responded to Higuchi’s vision. They went on to tweet, “The Wakayama Prefecture Wrestling Association is already holding mixed-gender team events in Wakayama Prefecture to increase the number of participants and to allow people with no wrestling experience to experience the appeal of wrestling, so we would appreciate it if you could let us know about them 🙇”  Higuchi’s message has clearly begun to resonate, but for change to happen  the world and Higuchi himself will have to wait.

Higuchi’s journey of highs and lows

Rei Higuchi’s wrestling journey is one with a lot of iconic highs and unexpected lows. Higuchi started his journey when he was just three years old. While training at Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo, he rather quickly stacked an impressive number of medals. His gold rush is legendary. He ruled the mat at the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade, the 2022 Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar, and multiple Japan National Championships, winning gold in 2019, 2018, and 2016.

One of Higuchi’s greatest moments, of course, came at the 2024 Paris Olympics! The rocky start in the finals had initially given Spencer Lee an edge at 2-0. But the comeback was a memorable spectacle! Higuchi came back, winning gold at 4-2. This was no ordinary moment, but a much-awaited moment of redemption. Higuchi missed out on gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to a weight issue.

That’s not all! Higuchi has also been in the spotlight for his empathy toward fellow wrestlers. He recently went on to tweet in solidarity with Vinesh Phogat. Phogat faced the same fate as Higuchi in 2020. She was unable to be at the finals due to a 100-gram variation in weight. Higuchi wrote on X, “I understand your pain the best. Same 50g. Don’t worry about the voices around you. Life goes on. Rising from setbacks is the most beautiful thing. Take a good rest.”