Hugo Hoyama

Hugo Hoyama (born May 9, 1969) is a retired Brazilian table tennis player of Japanese origin who has won several medals in single, double and team events in the Pan American Games and in the Latin American Championships.^[3] He competed in six editions of the Olympic Games in his career, between Barcelona 1992 and London 2012, and seven Pan American Games, from Indianapolis 1987 to Guadalajara 2011.^[4] Along with Gustavo Tsuboi and Thiago Monteiro, Hoyama was part of the winning team at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2011 Pan American Games.^[3][5]

Hugo Hoyama
Personal information
Born	(1969-05-09) May 9, 1969 (age 55) São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) [1]
Weight	68 kg (150 lb) [1]
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing  Brazil Pan American Games[2] 1987 Indianapolis Team 1991 Havana Singles 1991 Havana Doubles 1991 Havana Team 1995 Mar del Plata Singles 1995 Mar del Plata Doubles 1995 Mar del Plata Team 2003 Santo Domingo Doubles 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team 2011 Guadalajara Team 1987 Indianapolis Doubles 1995 Mar del Plata Mixed Doubles 1999 Winnipeg Team 2003 Santo Domingo Singles 2007 Rio de Janeiro Singles Latin American Championships 1990 Sancti Spiritus Team 1992 Havana Singles 1994 Sancti Spiritus Singles 1994 Sancti Spiritus Doubles 1994 Sancti Spiritus Team 1996 Mexico City Singles 1996 Mexico City Doubles 1998 Mexico City Doubles 2000 Coquimbo Singles 2000 Coquimbo Doubles 2000 Coquimbo Mixed Doubles 2000 Coquimbo Team 2002 Santo Domingo Singles 2002 Santo Domingo Doubles 2002 Santo Domingo Team 2003 El Salvador Doubles 2004 Valvidia Mixed Doubles 2004 Valvidia Team 2005 Punta Del Este Team 2006 Medellin Doubles 2007 Guarulhos Doubles 2007 Guarulhos Team 2008 Santo Domingo Team 2009 San Salvador Doubles 2009 San Salvador Team 2010 Cancun Doubles 2010 Cancun Team 1989 Las Tunas Singles 1989 Las Tunas Doubles 1990 Sancti Spiritus Singles 1992 Havana Doubles 1996 Mexico City Team 1998 Mexico City Singles 1998 Mexico City Team 2004 Valvidia Singles 2005 Punta Del Este Mixed Doubles 2006 Medellin Singles 2006 Medellin Team 2009 San Salvador Singles 2007 Guarulhos Singles 2010 Cancun Singles South American Games 2006 B.Aires Doubles 2006 B.Aires Team 2010 Medellín Team 2010 Medellín Doubles 2006 B.Aires Singles

Career

Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Hoyama broke the Brazilian record of most gold medals in the Pan American Games, which used to belong to the Brazilian swimmer Gustavo Borges^[6][7] and participated in every Olympic game since debuting as an Olympian at the 1992 Olympic Games^[8] and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games, where he plans to retire as an Olympian.^[9]

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, reaching the round of 16 and finishing in ninth place in the competition, beating world champion Jorgen Persson of Sweden along the way, Hoyama posted the best result in Brazilian tennis table history at the Olympics. He was only surpassed in 2020 by Hugo Calderano, who reached the quarterfinals.^[10]

In 2007, Hoyama was invited by Carlos Nuzman from the Brazilian Olympic Committee to be the flag bearer for Brazil at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara. According to Nuzman, the choice of Hoyama displays support from the committee to all sports that Brazilians play.^[11]

Hugo is the founder of the Hugo Hoyama Foundation.^[12] Other than his native Portuguese, Hoyama also speaks English, his heritage language of Japanese and Spanish.^[8]

In popular culture

Hoyama is briefly mentioned in the eighth episode of the fourth season of The Office American TV series. Table tennis plays a major role in the plot and Dwight Schrute says he even has a life-size poster of Hugo Hoyama in his room.^[13]

See also

• Brazil portal
• Sports portal

• List of table tennis players