 Kenkichi Oshima in 1932 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
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| Native name | 大島 鎌吉 | |||||||||||
| Nationality | Japanese | |||||||||||
| Born | (1908-11-10)November 10, 1908 | |||||||||||
| Died | March 30, 1985(1985-03-30) (aged 76). | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Kansai University | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event | Triple Jump | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Kenkichi Oshima (大島 鎌吉,Ōshima Kenkichi; November 10, 1908 – March 30, 1985) was aJapanese triple jumper who won a bronze medal at the1932 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles. He was theflag bearer for Japan at the 1936 Games in Berlin.[1]
Ōshima was born inKanazawa,Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. While still a student, he set a new unofficial world record for thetriple jump, and was widely expected to secure the gold medal in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. However, Ōshima suffered from severe burns in a bathing accident shortly before the start of the Olympics, and was not in the best form for the competition. He finished third with a jump of 15.12 meters behind the teammateChuhei Nambu who took gold. Ōshima also participated in thesame event in the1936 Summer Olympics inBerlin, but came in sixth place, while teammatesNaoto Tajima andMasao Harada took the gold and silver medals, respectively.[1]
Fluent in theGerman language, during the Berlin Olympics, Ōshima had a 20-minute interview ofAdolf Hitler, who apparently mistook Ōshima for a Japanesemilitary attache of the same surname. Ōshima asked Hitler many questions on Nazi initiatives to improve on the physical education of German youth.[2]
After graduation fromKansai University, Ōshima was employed by theMainichi Shimbun, working as a reporter in the sports section of the newspaper until retirement. He then accepted the post ofprofessor emeritus and later vice president ofOsaka University of Health and Sport Sciences, where he undertook reforms of the athletic department to strengthen the Japanese team in preparation for the1964 Tokyo Olympics. He was also an honorary member of theInternational Olympic Committee and an author of numerous books on sports.[1]
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