Mizuno Yūko (水野 裕子) is a celebrity athlete, a reporter, and basketball player who has participated in KUNOICHI and SASUKE several times, and has also been called the "Queen of KUNOICHI" on several occasions, until Miyake Ayako took the title. Mizuno is from Ichinomiya City in Aichi Prefecture.
KUNOICHI[]
Mizuno came to KUNOICHI, a few months after her performance in SASUKE 10. She debuted during KUNOICHI 2002 in which received #81. While many woman had unexpected falls, due to very slick surfaces from Buyoishi and Enchū Nori which helped prevent many from being able to clear this stage. Mizuno would be the first woman of this tournament to clear the First Stage and the first woman ever to clear the Second Stage in KUNOICHI. Then in the Final Stage known as Tenkudou, she was able to traverse roughly half, failing to transit on the cylindrical bump. This may be due to a snowfall during the taping that made the beam very slick.
Because she have the furthest result in the previous tournament during KUNOICHI 2003 Mizuno received the Number 100 since Yamada Miho was absent, from there, she cleared the first 3 stages with ease, and became one of three competitors in the Final Stage. eventually she timed up after reaching the top of the tower 0.2 seconds late (mainly due to her trying to climb up as far as she could instead of reaching for the buzzer in time), with the reporter noting afterwards that if she had one more second on the clock, she would have made it.
Despite failing the final stage in KUNOICHI 2003, many people thought that she would become the most likely competitor to complete the Final Stage. in KUNOICHI 2004, Mizuno again received #100 for second time. however, she shocked everybody when she failed the first obstacle on the First Stage, the Buyoishi and marked her earliest exit ever during a KUNOICHI tournament which helped paved the way for Miyake Ayako to become the first ever KUNOICHI champion.
Have prevent to cleared the First Stage in KUNOICHI 2004. Mizuno returned just a year later in KUNOICHI 2006 New Year, received a much-higher #91. Mizuno made up for her First Stage failure in the previous tournament by clearing the stage with ease. She then went on to clear the Second Stage as well, but ended up failing the Tourenban on the Third Stage, an obstacle she had once cleared easily in KUNOICHI 2003. This was the last time that Mizuno attempt either the Second Stage or the Third Stage to date in a KUNOICHI tournament.
Afterwards, she then failed the First Stage two more times, falling at the Fuandou in KUNOICHI 2006 Summer, and the modified Hasso Tobi in KUNOICHI 2007. She did not participated in KUNOICHI 2009, ending her streak of consecutive KUNOICHI appearances with 6 tournaments.
After almost 10 years, she returned for the now rebooted KUNOICHI 2017 Spring as one of only two former finalists who participated in past KUNOICHI tournaments along with Watanabe Mika. She received the Number 50, which she was the last competitor to attempt the RED Stage (First Stage) due to a low amount of applicants. From there, she failed on the new Fish Bone. Then in KUNOICHI 2017 Summer, she got her revenge on the Fish Bone, but failed the very next obstacle, the Double Pendulum and in KUNOICHI 2018, she made it as far as the Dragon Glider, but failed to even reach the bar.
SASUKE[]
Mizuno has also participated 6 times in SASUKE. In her first appearance in SASUKE 8, she failed the Godantobi on the First Stage. During SASUKE 9, she cleared this obstacle but then failed the Rolling Maruta. She cleared it in SASUKE 10 before failing the Jump Hang, after mistiming her jump on the trampoline. She then shockingly failed the Rolling Maruta again in SASUKE 11.
After missing SASUKE 12, she returned for SASUKE 13, as the third top female competitor, although during her run, she failed the first obstacle on the First Stage, the Prism See-Saw. She returned again for SASUKE 14 and was once again able to reach the Jump Hang, where this time she was able to reach the net, but couldn't hold on and ending up failing there, this was her last known SASUKE run.
On July 10th, 2024, upon the official announcement of the SASUKE World Cup 1, it was revealed that Mizuno participated in the special as the female representative of Team Japan Legend. This would mark her first appearance in a SASUKE-related tournament in about 19 years and 27 tournaments. During her run on the First Stage of the tournament, she was progressing cautiously, but surely, on the first three obstacles, and was even able to get through the Fish Bone (which eliminated her before in KUNOICHI). On the fifth obstacle, the Twin Dia, however, Mizuno was heavily struggling on the first rotating diamond and was starting to get gradually pushed back on the diamond by the rotatation. With her time & stamina running out, she fell of the back of the diamond entirely and into the water, which meant that another good SASUKE performance of hers came to an end at the fifth obstacle. This result, however, was still good enough to grant her and her team 30 points of the heat. But at the end of the First Stage, Team Japan Legend was still eliminated.
Trivia[]
- Mizuno participated in the most KUNOICHI appearances at 9 tournaments. excluding KUNOICHI 2009.
- Before the course reboot, Mizuno was tied with Higashi Rena, Nishimura Chie, and Watanabe Hisae as second longest most KUNOICHI appearances at 6 tournaments. only behind them is Satake Hiromi, who is once a most KUNOICHI appearances at 7 tournaments, except in KUNOICHI 2006 New Year.
- Mizuno and Akiyama Kazuhiko are the only two competitors who failed the first obstacle wearing #100.
- Mizuno is one of the finalists in KUNOICHI, who had a relation with Muscle Musical, as she was once a performer following her first appearance in KUNOICHI.
- Among the veterans of SASUKE and KUNOICHI. Mizuno is one of many competitors from both shows who did not made an appearance in VIKING.
Results[]
KUNOICHI Results[]
| KUNOICHI | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 81 | Failed Tenkudou (Final Stage) | |
| 2003 | 100 | Failed Tenkubou (Final Stage) | Reached the top of the tower, but pressed the button 0.2 seconds late. Last Woman Standing. |
| 2004 | 100 | Failed Buyoishi (First Stage) | Spring-loaded portion. |
| 2006 New Year | 91 | Failed Tourenban (Third Stage) | Red Zone (33rd Domino). |
| 2006 Summer | 97 | Failed Fuandou (First Stage) | |
| 2007 | 98 | Failed Hasso Tobi (First Stage) | |
| 2017 Spring | 50 | Failed Fish Bone (RED Stage) | |
| 2017 Summer | 21 | Failed Double Pendulum (RED Stage) | Failed to reaching the sandbag. |
| 2018 | 21 | Failed Dragon Glider (RED Stage) | Failed the trampoline jump. |
| 2025 | 50 |
SASUKE Results[]
| SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 52 | Failed Godantobi (First Stage) | |
| 9 | 37 | Failed Rolling Maruta (First Stage) | |
| 10 | 941 | Failed Jump Hang (First Stage) | |
| 11 | 93 | Failed Rolling Maruta (First Stage) | |
| 13 | 70 | Failed Prism See-Saw (First Stage) | |
| 14 | 70 | Failed Jump Hang (First Stage) | |
| 42 | 44 | TBA | TBA |
SASUKE World Cup Results[]
| Competition | Stage | Heat | Run | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Stage | 3 | 1 | Failed Twin Dia | Earned 30 points for Team Japan Legend. |
External[]
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