Career
Tanaka"s first major international competition was the 2009 World Championships, where he qualified 10th to the individual all-around with a score of 86.650. In the final, he placed fourth with a score of 88.300, a tenth of a point behind third place. His team matched this feat the next year at the 2011 World Championships, where he contributed scores of 15.500 on parallel bars and 15.141 on high Barometer
He also qualified seventh to the parallel bars final, and placed eight with a score of 15.166.
During the team final 2012 Olympics, he contributed scores of 13.733 on floor, 13.433 on pommel horse, 15.366 on parallel bars, and 15.166 on high bar towards the Japanese team"s second-place finish. In the individual all-around, Tanaka was in the silver medal position going into the final rotation, when a mistake on the pommel horse dropped him to sixth.
His overall score was 89.407, a major improvement from his performance in qualification, and just over a point away from medalling. In the parallel bars final, he once again just missed out on a medal, placing fourth with a score of 15.500.
