Yuki took up fencing in his elementary school years at the instigation of his father, a
Zorro fan and keen amateur fencer. He won the national junior high school championships. In Heian High School, he got third consecutive championship victories in national high school championships. Ota climbed his first
World Cup podium with a victory at the 2004 Tehran World Cup. He qualified for the
2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, his first Olympic participation, but was defeated in the table of 16 by Russia's
Renal Ganeyev. He later explained he had felt completely overpowered: "It was on a whole other level. In F1 terms, it was like the finalists were equipped with completely different engines." In the
2008–09 season, Ota moved to the top of the world rankings after finishing runner-up in the Moscow World Cup. At the
2012 Summer Olympics, he lost in the third round of the individual foil competition, but won a silver medal in the team foil event. At the
2015 World Fencing Championships, he won gold in the
Men's foil event, becoming the first Japanese to win a world championship in any event in fencing. Ota graduated from
Doshisha University. He is a member of the athletes commission of the
International Fencing Federation. == References ==