Rie Tanaka was born in Wakayama Prefecture in 1987. She began practicing gymnastics at the age of six and grew up as part of a gymnastics family with a father who ran a gymnastics club and a mother who was a gymnast. She became the first Japanese woman to win the Longines Prize for Elegance at the 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. She won the right to compete in the 2012 London Olympics along with her older brother Kazuhito and her younger brother Yusuke, and the trio created a sensation as the first set of three siblings to compete together in gymnastics history. She helped the Japanese team advance to the championship round at two Olympics in a row (the team placed eighth) and placed 16th overall personally.
Currently, she serves as a member of the Executive Board of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Japan Gymnastics Association. She’s also active in a wide range of other activities, including making appearances at sports events and on television programs.