Nakata Daisuke

Nakata Daisuke (中田 大輔) is a former Olympic trampolinist and current member of the Muscle Musical. He has also been one of the more consistent performers on SASUKE. In his 9 attempts, he has cleared the First Stage 7 times and the Second Stage 4 times. However, in all 4 of his attempts in the Third Stage, he has always failed early due to either arm fatigue or injury.

Early Tournaments
Nakata debuted in SASUKE 8, where he became the first competitor to beat the rain-soaked course. He would fail the Second Stage, timing up at the Wall Lifting.

Nakata would return for SASUKE 9. He managed to clear the First and Second Stage with ease, however, having admitted that his upper body strength was his main weakness, he had some trouble on the Third Stage. His technique was poor on the Rumbling Dice and it took him a long time to complete, and he had a hard time on the Body Prop. On the Lamp Grasper, he only reached the third lamp before slipping.

In SASUKE 10, he passed the first stage with the fastest time of 2.85 seconds, and the second stage with 8.7 seconds. However in the Third Stage he would struggle once again, barely beating the first two obstacles, and failing on the Lamp Grasper again, advancing only a lamp further than the previous tournament.

In SASUKE 11, he easily passed the first two stages. On his nemesis Lamp Grasper, he advanced much further than before, but he was once again unable to clear it, losing his grip halfway the obstacle

In SASUKE 12, Nakata shocked many observers when he failed the First Stage's Rolling Maruta.

Nakata did better in SASUKE 13, clearing the First Stage. He would however struggle in the Second Stage, taking a long time completing every obstacle, and he timed out when lifting the first wall of the Wall Lifting.

Accident
In the summer of 2004, Nakata's motorcycle was rear-ended by a truck in a hit-and-run accident. He was hospitalized for several months and went through excruciating physical therapy. He has had several surgeries on his wrists, which remain very crooked. The driver of the truck was never identified.

Adding to Nakata's difficulties was the unwanted attention of a stalker. A woman named Osawa Hiroko was discovered in his hospital room when he awoke after the accident. She would send more than 1000 e-mails to Nakata and would ignore police warnings against stalking. Nakata would eventually file a formal complaint, leading to her arrest.

Return to SASUKE
Nakata would recover enough to compete in SASUKE 16. However, he was too slow and would time up on the First Stage's Rope Climb. He did much better in SASUKE 17, reaching the Third Stage. However, his wrists were still not fully healed. As a result, he tackled the Arm Rings in agony, and he ultimately failed there.

After a three tournament break, Nakata competed in SASUKE 21. He was impressive in his Shin-Sasuke debut, easily clearing most obstacles and reaching the Second Stage. However, he re-injured his wrists while on the Downhill Jump. He made numerous attempts at the Salmon Ladder but was unable to keep a secure grip on the bar. On his first true attempt at the obstacle, his grip gave way and he fell into the water.

After his injury in SASUKE 21, Nakata decided to retired from SASUKE, never to compete again.

Trivia

 * On the trampoline, Nakata can jump as high as 26 feet. He is known as the "King of the Trampoline" to some (along with Nagasaki Shunsuke, who is known as the "Prince of the Trampoline").
 * Nakata also appeared in Nirgilis' Promo Video for "Brand New Day."
 * Nakata is the only competitor who attempted and never cleared the Lamp Grasper; he is the only competitor to have also failed the obstacle more than once.
 * Nakata and Yamamoto Shingo are the only competitors to fail the Arm Rings, however this was due to injury in both cases.