Yoko Yamada won both Senior Women 52 kg titles at the 2026 IFA World Armwrestling Championships in Tsuchiura, Japan. She took gold with the right arm and gold with the left arm. The bouts were held at Craft Civic Hall Tsuchiura, on home soil.
Two hands, one weight class, two world titles
In the right-arm 52 kg draw, Yamada beat a field of 8 entrants. Mizuho Shibaoka took second and Chie Inoue third, for an all-Japan podium. Tara Terry of the United States was fourth and Shiori Florendo fifth.
Behind them, Ikumi Hojo placed sixth, Gabriela Ivanova of Bulgaria seventh, and Hideko Katsumi eighth. The field spanned three nations.
The left-arm 52 kg class held six women. Yamada placed first again, ahead of Ivanova and Miku Endo of Japan. Katsumi was fourth, Florendo fifth and Terry sixth.
The event was run by the International Federation of Armwrestling and the Japan Arm Wrestling Association, with 142 categories in all. Yamada also won the Grand-Masters Women +70 kg titles in both arms, for 4 golds at one Worlds. In the right +70 kg class she finished ahead of Kathy Facey of Canada and Christina Casto of the United States.
A champion built over two decades
Yamada has been a JAWA women's champion since 2002. That year she won the All-Japan left-hand 50 kg title and came second in the right hand. In 2003 she won both 50 kg All-Japan titles, then placed fourth in both arms at the WAF World Championship in Ottawa.
In 2004 she again won both the right- and left-hand 50 kg categories at the All-Japan Championships. At the 2026 All-Japan Championships she won both 52 kg titles, with Ikumi Hojo and Shibaoka the runners-up.
The Tsuchiura result turns years of home wins into a world double. For Yamada, the titles cap a long career, reached on Japanese soil.
