Kusuo Kitamura

Japanese: 北村久寿雄 - きたむらくすお

Born: October 9, 1917, Kochi
[Died] June 6, 1996. Tokyo swimmer. In August 1932, while in his third year at Kochi Commercial School, he participated in the 1500m freestyle at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, winning with a new Olympic record of 19 minutes 12.4 seconds. His victory at 14 years and 309 days remains the record for the youngest male gold medalist in an individual Olympic event (including events other than swimming). At this tournament, Japanese swimmers achieved the remarkable feat of winning five gold medals out of six men's swimming events. The following year, in 1933, he set a new Japanese record, just 0.8 seconds short of the world record, but retired after failing the entrance exam for the former Third High School. After a year of studying for entrance exams, he enrolled and graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in 1941. After joining Mitsui & Co., he moved to the Ministry of Labor, where he served as Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Labor Relations Commission and Secretary-General of the Labor Relations Commission for Public Corporations, etc. After retiring from the ministry, he served as an executive officer at Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Cement. He served as chairman of the Japan Swimming Federation's Foreign Affairs Committee at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, and later became executive director and chairman of the swimming committee of the same federation. In 1984, he became president of the Japan Masters Swimming Association. He was awarded the Helms Prize in 1932 and the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class, in 1991.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

[生]1917.10.9. 高知
[没]1996.6.6. 東京
水泳選手。 1932年8月，高知商業学校3年生のときにロサンゼルス・オリンピック競技大会の 1500m自由形に出場，19分 12秒4のオリンピック新記録で優勝した。 14歳と 309日での優勝は，いまだにオリンピック個人種目 (水泳以外も含む) の男子最年少金メダリストとして記録に残る。この大会で，日本選手が競泳男子6種目中5種目の金メダル獲得という快挙を成し遂げた。翌 1933年には世界記録にあと0秒8に迫る日本記録を出したが，旧制第三高等学校受験に失敗したため引退。1年浪人の末入学を果たし，1941年東京帝国大学法学部を卒業。三井物産に入社後，労働省に移り中央労働委員会事務局次長，公共企業体等労働委員会事務局長を歴任。退官後は住友重機工業，住友セメントの役員を務めた。 1964年東京オリンピック競技大会で日本水泳連盟外国委員長を務め，のちに同連盟の常務理事・競泳委員長。 1984年には日本マスターズ水泳協会会長に就任した。 1932年ヘルムス賞受賞，1991年勲三等瑞宝章受章。

出典　ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典について　情報

<<: Kitamura family

>>: Kitamura Garden