TOKYO, Oct 23: Japan’s triple Olympic wrestling champion Saori Yoshida will receive the People’s Honour Award for “bringing hope and courage to society,” the Japanese government said on Tuesday.

It is only the 20th time the honour has been bestowed in Japan.

The 30-year-old joins baseball’s Sadaharu Oh, judo’s Yasuhiro Yamashita, marathon runner Naoko Takahashi and the national women’s football team as recipients from Japanese sport.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a media conference that Yoshida had helped bring joy to people in Japan, still recovering from last year’s tsunami and nuclear crisis.

“She has accomplished something which has never been done before in wrestling,” he said after a cabinet meeting where the decision to award the honour was made. “And she has broken new frontiers in women’s sport. Her achievements have deeply inspired many people and bringing hope and courage to society.”

Yoshida’s three Olympic and 10 world titles outshine Russian Alexander Karelin, who won three Olympic golds and nine world championships between 1988 and 1999.

The pint-sized Yoshida began her reign at the 2002 world championships and completed a hat-trick of Olympic gold medals in London earlier this year.

“It’s a real honour,” stated Yoshida. “I will keep training hard and stay humble, all the while trying to bring emotion to people through my wrestling.”—Reuters