TOKYO (TR) – The agency for table tennis star Ai Fukuhara confirmed reports claiming that the two-time Olympic medalist has remarried and is pregnant.
In response to a request for comment from TBS News (Dec. 22), the agency for Fukuhara, 37, stated, “At her own request, we have not made matters concerning her private life public, but the published articles are true.”
A native of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Fukuhara enjoyed national popularity as a table tennis player.
Starting with the 2004 Athens Olympics, she competed in four consecutive Olympic Games. She won a silver medal in the women’s team event at the 2012 London Olympics and a bronze medal in the women’s team event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She retired from active competition in 2018.
In 2016, she married former table tennis player Jiang Hung-chieh, who represented Taiwan at the Rio Olympics. They have two children — an eight-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son.
Things were going smoothly until January 2021, when Fukuhara returned to Japan alone from Taiwan. From then on, they embarked on an all-out battle over divorce and custody of the son.
It was in March of the same year that Fukuhara was reported to be dating her new husband. While allegations of infidelity on the part of Fukuhara arose, suspicions of emotional abuse by Jiang also emerged.
The divorce was finalized about four months later. Fukuhara was subsequently sued by her new husband’s ex-wife for compensation, but the lawsuit was dropped in November 2022.
In March 2024, a press conference was held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan to announce a settlement between Fukuhara and Jiang regarding child custody.
