Yoshinori Sakai

Yoshinori Sakai

Yoshinori Sakai at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Born	August 6, 1945 Miyoshi, Hiroshima, Japan
Died	September 10, 2014 (aged 69) Tokyo, Japan
Sport
Sport	Sprint running
Club	Waseda University
Medal record Representing  Japan Asian Games 1966 Bangkok 4×400 m relay 1966 Bangkok 400 m

Yoshinori Sakai (坂井 義則 Sakai Yoshinori, August 6, 1945 – September 10, 2014) was the Olympic flame torchbearer who lit the cauldron at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Biography

Sakai was born on the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. He was chosen for the role to symbolize Japan's postwar reconstruction and peace. At the time he was a member of Waseda University's running club. The nineteen-year-old was coached in the ceremonial duty by Teruji Kogake, a triple jump world record-holder turned coach.^[1] He never actually competed in the Olympics.

After the Olympic games, he won a gold medal in the 4×400 m relay and a silver in the 400 m at the 1966 Asian Games. He joined Fuji Television in 1968 as a journalist and worked mainly in the fields of news and sports.^[2]

He died of cerebral bleeding in Tokyo on September 10, 2014.^[3]

References

1. No.2 Teruji Kogake (President of the Tokyo Athletic Association). Tokyo 2016 website
2. Masuda, Masafumi (2004). "JOC – 東京オリンピックから40年 (Forty years from Tokyo Olympics)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
3. "1964 Tokyo Olympic torch runner Sakai dies at 69". Mainichi. Kyodo. September 10, 2014. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.