Personal information | ||||||||||||
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Native name | 손기정 | |||||||||||
Born | Shingishu, Heianhoku-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan | August 29, 1912|||||||||||
Died | November 15, 2002 90) Seoul, South Korea | (aged|||||||||||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||
Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) | |||||||||||
Korean name | ||||||||||||
Hangul | 손기정 | |||||||||||
Hanja | ||||||||||||
Revised Romanization | Son Gijeong | |||||||||||
McCune–Reischauer | Son Kijŏng | |||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Now coaching | Ham Kee-Yong, Suh Yun-Bok | |||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
Olympic finals |
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Medal record
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Sohn Kee-chung (Korean : 손기정; Korean pronunciation: [son.kidʑʌŋ] ; August 29, 1912 [1] [2] – November 15, 2002) was a Korean-Japanese Olympic athlete and long-distance runner. He became the first ethnic Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, winning gold in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was born in the Korean Peninsula, but he competed as a member of the Japanese delegation because Korea was under Japanese rule at the time. [3] Sohn set an Olympic record of 2 hours 29 minutes 19.2 seconds. [4]
Sohn competed under the Japanese name Kitei Son, as Korea was under Japanese occupation during his career. [3] [4]
Sohn Kee-chung was born on August 29, 1912, in Sinuiju (then "Shingishū"), Heianhoku-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now in North Korea). [5] [1] [3] He was born into the Miryang Son clan . [6]
Sohn reportedly had a talent for running even at a young age. In sixth grade, he placed first in a regional 5 km race, beating out older competitors. [5] He studied at Yangchung High School in Seoul, which was reputed for its track and field program. [5] He then enrolled in Meiji University in Tokyo, where he graduated in 1940.[ citation needed ]
In 1931, he ran as the representative of his province at the Chōsen Shrine Competition (조선신궁대회) in Seoul (Keijō), and placed first. In 1932, he came in second in the Kyŏngyŏng Race (경영 마라톤대회), which was hosted by newspaper The Dong-A Ilbo . In April 1932, he won the Tokyo-Yokohama ekiden (road race). [5]
Sohn first competed in the 1,500 and 5,000 m, but turned to longer distances after winning the Chōsen Shrine Competition in October 1933. [5] Between 1933 and 1936, he ran 12 marathons; he finished in the top three on all occasions and won nine. [3] On November 3, 1935, in Tokyo, Japan, Sohn set a world record in the marathon with a time of 2:26:42, which broke the world record 2:26:44 set by Yasuo Ikenaka of Japan at the Berlin Olympic trials on April 3, 1935, in Tokyo, Japan. [7] [8] According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, the record remained unbroken until Sohn's own trainee, Suh Yun-Bok, won the 1947 Boston Marathon. [7] [9] Unofficially, he ran a marathon with a time under 2:24 on April 27, 1935, in Seoul, South Korea.
Sohn, competing for the Empire of Japan, won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the marathon. He ran the 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) course in 2:29:19.2, breaking the Olympic record. [4] His teammate Nam Sung-yong took the bronze medal. As Korea was under Japanese rule at the time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially credited Japan with Sohn's gold and Nam's bronze in the 1936 Summer Olympics medal count.
On December 9, 2011, the IOC recognized Sohn's Korean nationality in his official profile. It cited his efforts to sign his Korean name and his stress on Korea's status as a separate nation during interviews. The move was part of the Korean Olympic Committee's repeated requests to acknowledge Sohn's background. However, the IOC ruled out changing the nationality and registered name per official records to prevent historical distortions. [10]
Under orders from Tokyo, Sohn Kee-chung had to compete using the Latin alphabet name of Son Kitei. It is the romanization of the Japanese pronunciation of his Korean name in hanja. [11]
Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem while it was played at his award ceremony and later told reporters that he was ashamed to run for Japan. [3] When the Dong-a Ilbo published a photograph of Sohn at the medal ceremony, it altered the image to remove the Japanese flag from his running tunic. The act enraged the Japanese Governor-General of Korea Minami Jiro in Seoul. The Kempetai military police imprisoned eight people connected with the newspaper and suspended its publication for nine months. [12] [13]
For winning the marathon, Sohn was to have received an ancient Corinthian helmet from the 8th century BC, which was discovered at Olympia, Greece, and later purchased by a newspaper in Athens to give as an Olympic award. However, the IOC believed that presenting such a valuable gift to a runner would violate its amateur rules. The helmet was placed in a Berlin museum and remained there for 50 years. It was finally presented to Sohn in 1986. [14] [15] Sohn donated the helmet to the National Museum of Korea, which designated it as the 904th and only Western National Treasure. [16] There was initially a plan to award replicas of this helmet to the winners of the 2006 Sohn Kee-chung marathon, [17] but they eventually got only a chance to wear a replica. [18]
Sohn was the team manager for the Korea at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics and was the nation's flag bearer in the London 1948 opening ceremony. [19] Sohn spent the remainder of his career in South Korea coaching other notable runners such as Suh Yun-Bok, the winner of the Boston Marathon in 1947; [3] Ham Kee-Yong, winner of the Boston Marathon in 1950; and Hwang Young-Cho, who was the gold medalist of the 1992 Summer Olympics marathon, and whom Sohn Kee-chung especially went to Barcelona to see. Sohn also became the Vice Chairman of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, he was given the honor of carrying the Olympic torch in the stadium during the opening ceremony. [3] [20]
Sohn authored an autobiography entitled My Motherland, My Marathon (나의 조국 나의 마라톤). [21]
He was honored with the Moran Class of the Korean Order of Civil Merit.
Sohn died at midnight on November 15, 2002, at age 90 from pneumonia. He was buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery. The Sohn Kee-chung Park in Seoul was established in his honor. [20] He was also posthumously made a Grand Cordon (Blue Dragon) of the Order of Sport Merit.
Sohn appears in Zainichi author Yu Miri's semi-autobiographical novel The End of August (8月の果て) about her grandfather, Yang Im-deuk, who was a rival of Sohn's when they were young.
Nam Sung-yong was a Korean Olympian who won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1936 Summer Olympics, completing the run in 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 42 seconds.
Hwang Young-cho is a former South Korean athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1994 Asian Games.
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Berlin, Germany, from 1 August to 16 August.
At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, 29 athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 6 for women. The program of events was unchanged from the previous Games. There was a total of 776 participants from 43 countries competing.
Lee Bong-Ju is a South Korean marathoner.
The Empire of Japan competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. 179 athletes competed in 13 sports and also participated in art competitions. In art competitions, Japan won 2 bronze medals by Ryuji Fujita in paintings and also Sujaku Suzuki in drawing and water colours.
The Republic of Korea first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for 1980 which they boycotted. South Korea has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1948, except for the 1952 games.
Suh Yun-bok was a South Korean marathoner, who is best known as the winner of the 1947 Boston Marathon.
Ham Kee-yong was a South Korean marathoner, best known as the winner of the 1950 Boston Marathon.
Shim Daeseop, more commonly known by his art name Shim Hun, was a Korean novelist, poet, and playwright.
Greek–South Korean relations are the foreign relations between Greece and South Korea. Greece has an embassy in Seoul and an honorary consulate in Daejeon. South Korea has an embassy in Athens.
Fusashige Suzuki was a Japanese long-distance runner who is credited by the International Association of Athletics Federations for setting a world record in the marathon on March 31, 1935.
The men's marathon event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games took place August 9. Fifty-six athletes from 27 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The race was won by Sohn Kee-chung, a Korean athlete competing for Japan as the country was under Japanese occupation; Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem at the victory ceremony. Sohn was the first Korean athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, though the medal remains credited as Japan's first victory in the Olympic marathon. Finland (barely) missed the marathon podium for the first time since World War I, with its top two runners placing 4th and 5th.
Albert Richard "Whitey" Michelsen was an American long-distance runner who is recognized as having set a world's best in the marathon on October 12, 1925, with a time of 2:29:01 at the inaugural Port Chester Marathon in Port Chester, New York. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, Michelsen held this record until Fusashige Suzuki posted a 2:27:49 performance in Tokyo, Japan on March 31, 1935.
Yasuo Ikenaka was a Japanese long-distance runner who is credited by the International Association of Athletics Federations for setting a world's best in the marathon on April 3, 1935. According to the IAAF, Ikenaka's time of 2:26:44 was over a minute faster than the previous record set by Fusashige Suzuki three days earlier.
The Chuncheon International Marathon is an annual marathon race which is held in late October in the city of Chuncheon, South Korea. First held in 1946, it is the second oldest marathon in the country after the Seoul International Marathon. Sponsored by The Chosun Ilbo, a major daily newspaper in South Korea, the race is one of two in the country which holds IAAF Silver Label status, along with Gyeongju International Marathon.
The Seoul International Marathon, also known as The Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon, is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is hosted by the newspaper The Dong-A Ilbo. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the city, alongside the JoongAng Seoul Marathon which is held in November. It holds World Athletics Platinum Label Road Race status. First held in 1931, it is the third longest-running road running competition in Asia after the Hakone Ekiden and Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden in Japan.
The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first modern Olympics in 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the programme at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
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