| Yukio Endō | |
|---|---|
 Endō at the 1964 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1937-01-18)January 18, 1937 Yanaisado,Hiroomote,Akita-ken, Japan[1][2] |
| Died | March 25, 2009(2009-03-25) (aged 72) Surugadai Nihon University Hospital,Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo[3][4] |
| Height | 1.61 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Gymnastics career | |
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics |
Medal record | |
Yukio Endō (遠藤 幸雄,Endō Yukio, January 18, 1937 – March 25, 2009) was a Japaneseartistic gymnast, Olympic champion and world champion. He was part of the first Japanese team that succeeded to win gold medals in the team event at the Summer Olympics (1960) and World Championships (1962). In 1964 he won the first individual all-around Olympic gold medal for Japan. He was the flag bearer at the1968 Summer Olympics.[5]
Endō was born into a family ofpharmacists. His mother died fromtuberculosis[6] when he was a nine-year-old student atHiroomote Elementary School.[1] He studied atKubota Junior High School[7] andAkita Technical High School, after which he studied at the Tokyo University of Education (now theUniversity of Tsukuba), graduating in 1959. He later worked as assistant instructor of physical education atNihon University.[5]
Endō won gold medals with the Japanese team in three Olympics, in1960,1964 and1968.[8][9][10] At the1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he also received two individual gold medals, inparallel bars, and inindividual all-around.[9][11]
Endō received six individual medals at the1962 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, including a gold medal infloor exercise, and Japan also won the team competition.[12]
He received two individual silver medals at the1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and Japan won the team competition.[12]
Endō was a four-timeJapaneseall-around champion.
He retired after the 1968 Olympics to become a gymnastics coach and eventually professor at Nihon University. He also coached the national team at the 1972 Olympics, acted as director of the Japanese Olympic Committee and was twice appointed as vice-president of the Japan Gymnastic Association. In 1996, he received the JapaneseEmperor's Medal, and in 1999 induced into theInternational Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[12][5]
Endō died ofesophageal cancer on March 25, 2009.[13]
|
| |
1960  Japan (JPN):Nobuyuki Aihara,Yukio Endo,Takashi Mitsukuri,Takashi Ono,Masao Takemoto,Shuji Tsurumi1964 Japan (JPN):Yukio Endo,Takuji Hayata,Takashi Mitsukuri,Takashi Ono,Shuji Tsurumi,Haruhiro Yamashita1968 Japan (JPN):Yukio Endo,Sawao Kato,Takeshi Kato,Eizo Kenmotsu,Akinori Nakayama,Mitsuo Tsukahara |
