Sawao Katō (加藤 澤男, Katō Sawao, born October 11, 1946) is a Japanese former gymnast and one of the most successful Olympic athletes of all time. Between 1968 and 1976 he won twelve Olympic medals, including eight gold medals.[1]
Katō was born in Niigata Prefecture on October 11, 1946, and studied at the Tokyo Kyoiku University. He first competed in the Olympics in 1968, alongside his elder brother Takeshi. They won the team competition, with Sawao also taking gold medals in the all-around and on the floor. He placed third in the rings event.[1]
Four years later the Japanese men's gymnastics team dominated the 1972 Olympics, taking 15 out of 21 individual medals. Katō won gold medals all-around and in the parallel bars and silvers on the horizontal bar and pommel horse. He aimed for an unprecedented third gold medal in the all-around at the 1976 Summer Olympics, but was defeated by Nikolai Andrianov. The team competition was close this time, but the Japanese defeated the Soviets by four tenths of a point, earning their fifth consecutive title. Katō closed out his Olympic career by retaining his title in the parallel bars.[1]
Katō is one of only ten athletes to have won eight or more Olympic gold medals. He is one of the most successful male gymnasts ever at the Olympics: his eight gold and twelve overall medals are best rivaled by Nikolai Andrianov's seven gold and 15 overall, Boris Shakhlin's seven gold and 13 overall, and Takashi Ono's five gold and 13 overall. He won more Olympic gold medals than any Japanese Olympian, and is second after Ono in the total number of medals. In 2001, Katō was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[2]
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^ abcEvans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
^"SAWAO KATO". International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 12, 2007.
sawao, katō, native, form, this, personal, name, katō, sawao, this, article, uses, western, name, order, when, mentioning, individuals, 加藤, 澤男, katō, sawao, born, october, 1946, japanese, former, gymnast, most, successful, olympic, athletes, time, between, 196. The native form of this personal name is Katō Sawao This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals Sawao Katō 加藤 澤男 Katō Sawao born October 11 1946 is a Japanese former gymnast and one of the most successful Olympic athletes of all time Between 1968 and 1976 he won twelve Olympic medals including eight gold medals 1 Sawao KatōKatō in 1970Personal informationCountry represented JapanBorn 1946 10 11 October 11 1946 age 77 Gosen Niigata Japan a Height1 63 m 5 ft 4 in Weight59 kg 130 lb DisciplineMen s artistic gymnasticsRetired1977Medal record Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Team 1968 Mexico City All around 1968 Mexico City Floor 1972 Munich Team 1972 Munich All around 1972 Munich Parallel bars 1976 Montreal Team 1976 Montreal Parallel bars 1972 Munich Pommel horse 1972 Munich Horizontal bar 1976 Montreal All around 1968 Mexico City Rings World Championships 1974 Varna Team Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 5 External linksBiography edit nbsp Sawao Katō Katō was born in Niigata Prefecture on October 11 1946 and studied at the Tokyo Kyoiku University He first competed in the Olympics in 1968 alongside his elder brother Takeshi They won the team competition with Sawao also taking gold medals in the all around and on the floor He placed third in the rings event 1 Four years later the Japanese men s gymnastics team dominated the 1972 Olympics taking 15 out of 21 individual medals Katō won gold medals all around and in the parallel bars and silvers on the horizontal bar and pommel horse He aimed for an unprecedented third gold medal in the all around at the 1976 Summer Olympics but was defeated by Nikolai Andrianov The team competition was close this time but the Japanese defeated the Soviets by four tenths of a point earning their fifth consecutive title Katō closed out his Olympic career by retaining his title in the parallel bars 1 Katō is one of only ten athletes to have won eight or more Olympic gold medals He is one of the most successful male gymnasts ever at the Olympics his eight gold and twelve overall medals are best rivaled by Nikolai Andrianov s seven gold and 15 overall Boris Shakhlin s seven gold and 13 overall and Takashi Ono s five gold and 13 overall He won more Olympic gold medals than any Japanese Olympian and is second after Ono in the total number of medals In 2001 Katō was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame 2 As of 2010 Katō was a professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba 3 On May 14 2021 Jovian asteroid 43212 Katosawao discovered by astronomers with the American LINEAR survey in 2000 was named in his honor 4 See also editList of multiple Olympic gold medalists List of multiple Olympic medalists List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists List of Olympic medal leaders in men s gymnasticsNotes edit Japan was under the Allied occupation at the time of Katō s birth References edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sawao Katō a b c Evans Hilary Gjerde Arild Heijmans Jeroen Mallon Bill et al Sawao Kato Olympics at Sports Reference com Sports Reference LLC Archived from the original on April 17 2020 SAWAO KATO International Gymnastics Hall of Fame Retrieved May 12 2007 The Statue of Dr Jigoro Kano Unveiled University of Tsukuba December 1 2010 WGSBN Bulletin Archive Working Group Small Body Nomenclature May 14 2021 Retrieved May 16 2021 Bulletin 1 External links editSawao Katō at the International Gymnastics Federation nbsp Sawao Katō at the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame nbsp Sawao Katō at Olympics com nbsp Sawao Katō at Olympedia nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sawao Katō amp oldid 1217628656, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
