Yoshinori Sakai

Yoshinori Sakai
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Yoshinori Sakai lighting the Olympic flame.

Yoshinori Sakai (坂井義則, Sakai Yoshinori^?, born Miyoshi, Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 - the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima) was the Olympic flame torchbearer who lit the cauldron at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

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.

After the Olympic games, he won a gold medal in 1600 m relay and a silver in 400 m at 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. He joined Fuji Television in 1968 as a journalist and worked mainly in the fields of news and sports.² He has never competed in the Olympics.

References

^ Tokyo 2016 website
^ Masuda, Masafumi (2004). "JOC - 東京オリンピックから40年 (Forty years from Tokyo Olympics)" (in Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-08-12.

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Preceded by Giancarlo Peris Rome 1960	Final Summer Olympic Torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai Tokyo 1964	Succeeded by Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo Mexico City 1968

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