| Sawao Katō | |
|---|---|
 Katō in 1970 | |
| Personal information | |
| Country represented |  Japan |
| Born | October 11, 1946 Gosen, Niigata, Japan[a] |
| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) |
| Weight | 59 kg (130 lb) |
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics |
| Retired | 1977 |
Medal record | |
Sawao Katō (加藤 澤男, Katō Sawao, born October 11, 1946) is a Japanese former gymnast and one of the most successful Olympic athletes of all time. Between 1968 and 1976 he won twelve Olympic medals, including eight gold medals.[1]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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The BEST of Sawao Katō at the Olympics! 🇯🇵
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Sawao Kato (JPN) gymnastics AA floor routine 1968 olympics
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Sawao Kato 1968 Olympics AA Floor
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Sawao Kato - PH (Olympic games 1976)
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Sawao Kato JPN - 1972 OG MAG Team Final VT
Transcription
Biography
Katō was born in Niigata Prefecture on October 11, 1946, and studied at the Tokyo Kyoiku University. He first competed in the Olympics in 1968, alongside his elder brother Takeshi. They won the team competition, with Sawao also taking gold medals in the all-around and on the floor. He placed third in the rings event.[1]
Four years later the Japanese men's gymnastics team dominated the 1972 Olympics, taking 15 out of 21 individual medals. Katō won gold medals all-around and in the parallel bars and silvers on the horizontal bar and pommel horse. He aimed for an unprecedented third gold medal in the all-around at the 1976 Summer Olympics, but was defeated by Nikolai Andrianov. The team competition was close this time, but the Japanese defeated the Soviets by four tenths of a point, earning their fifth consecutive title. Katō closed out his Olympic career by retaining his title in the parallel bars.[1]
Katō is one of only ten athletes to have won eight or more Olympic gold medals. He is one of the most successful male gymnasts ever at the Olympics: his eight gold and twelve overall medals are best rivaled by Nikolai Andrianov's seven gold and 15 overall, Boris Shakhlin's seven gold and 13 overall, and Takashi Ono's five gold and 13 overall. He won more Olympic gold medals than any Japanese Olympian, and is second after Ono in the total number of medals. In 2001, Katō was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[2]
As of 2010, Katō was a professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba.[3] On May 14, 2021, Jovian asteroid 43212 Katosawao, discovered by astronomers with the American LINEAR survey in 2000, was named in his honor.[4]
See also
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
- List of multiple Olympic medalists
- List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists
- List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics
Notes
- ^ Japan was under the Allied occupation at the time of Katō's birth.
References
- ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sawao Kato". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- ^ "SAWAO KATO". International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 12, 2007.
- ^ The Statue of Dr. Jigoro Kano Unveiled. University of Tsukuba. December 1, 2010
- ^ "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group Small Body Nomenclature. May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021. (Bulletin #1)
External links
- Sawao Katō at the International Gymnastics Federation
- Sawao Katō at the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
- Sawao Katō at Olympics.com
- Sawao Katō at Olympedia
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1968  Japan (JPN): Yukio Endo, Sawao Kato, Takeshi Kato, Eizo Kenmotsu, Akinori Nakayama, Mitsuo Tsukahara1972 Japan (JPN): Shigeru Kasamatsu, Sawao Kato, Eizo Kenmotsu, Akinori Nakayama, Teruichi Okamura, Mitsuo Tsukahara1976 Japan (JPN): Shun Fujimoto, Hisato Igarashi, Hiroshi Kajiyama, Sawao Kato, Eizo Kenmotsu, Mitsuo Tsukahara |
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1974: Japan (JPN), Fumio Honma, Hiroshi Kajiyama, Shigeru Kasamatsu, Sawao Katō, Eizō Kenmotsu, Mitsuo Tsukahara |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
This page was last edited on 30 April 2024, at 12:31