Sohn Kee-chung

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This is a Korean name; the family name is Sohn.
Sohn Kee-chung
File:Sohn Kee-chung 1936.jpg
Sohn Kee-chung at the 1936 Olympics
Personal information
Nationality  South Korea
Born (1914-08-29)August 29, 1914
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 60 kg (130 lb)
Medal record
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1936 Berlin Marathon
Sohn Kee-chung
Hangul 손기정
Hanja 孫基禎
Revised Romanization Son Gijeong
McCune–Reischauer Son Kijŏng
Japanese pronunciation:
Son Kitei

Sohn Kee-chung (Korean: 손기정; August 29, 1914[1][2] – November 15, 2002) became the first medal-winning Korean Olympian, when he won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a member of the Japanese delegation.[3]

He competed under the Japanese name Son Kitei, as Korea was part of the Japanese Empire at the time.[3] The name is based on the Japanese kanji pronunciation of his Korean hanja name, both are written the same.

Early life

Sohn Kee-chung was born in Shingishū (Sinŭiju), North P'yŏngan Province, Korea under Japanese rule (present-day North Korea). He studied at Yangjeong High School (양정고등학교) in Seoul and Meiji University in Tokyo, where he graduated in 1940.

Athletics career

Son first competed in the 1,500 and 5,000 m, but turned to longer distances after winning an 8-mile race in October 1933. Between 1933 and 1936, he ran 12 marathons; he finished within the first three places on all occasions and won nine of those races.[3] On November 3, 1935 in Tokyo, Japan, Sohn Kee-chung set a world record in the marathon with a time of 2h26:42.[4][5] According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, this record remained unbroken until Sohn's own trainee, Suh Yun-Bok, won the 1947 Boston marathon.[4][6]

1936 Berlin Olympics

Sohn, who was competing for the Empire of Japan, won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the marathon. He ran the 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) course in 2h29:19.2, breaking the Olympic record. His Korean teammate Nam Sung-yong took the bronze medal. As Korea was part of Japan at the time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japan are officially credited with Sohn's gold and Nam's bronze in the 1936 Summer Olympics medal count.

On December 9, 2011, the IOC recognized Sohn's Korean nationality by fixing his official profile. It cited his efforts to sign his Korean name and stressing Korea's status as a separate nation during interviews. The move was part of the Korean Olympic Committee's repeated requests to acknowledge Sohn's background. However, the IOC ruled out changing the nationality and registered name per official records to prevent historical distortions.[7]

Political significance

Under orders from Tokyo, Sohn Kee-chung had to compete using the Latin alphabet name of Son Kitei. It is the romanization of Japanese pronunciation of 孫基禎, his Korean name in hanja.[8]

Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem while its was played at his award ceremony and later told reporters that he was ashamed to run for Japan.[3] When the Dong-a Ilbo, published a photograph of Sohn at the medal ceremony it altered the image to remove the Japanese flag from his running tunic. The act enraged the Japanese Governor-General of Korea Minami Jiro in Seoul. The Kempetai military police imprisoned eight people connected with the newspaper and suspended its publication for nine months.[9][10]

Hellenic prize

File:Sohn kee jung bronz helmet korea.jpg
The Corinthian helmet that was awarded to Sohn Kee-chung, on display at the National Museum of Korea.

For winning the marathon, Sohn was to have received an ancient Corinthian helmet (circa BCE 800–700), which was discovered at Olympia, Greece, and later purchased by a newspaper in Athens for giving it as an Olympic award. However, the IOC believed that presenting such a valuable gift would violate its amateur rules. Thus the helmet was placed in a Berlin museum where it remained for fifty years. It was finally presented to Sohn in 1986.[11][12] On March 7, 1987, the helmet was categorised as the 904th treasure of South Korea. There was initial plan that awarding replicas of this helmet to the winners of the 2006 Sohn Kee-chung marathon,[13] but winners got only chance to wear that replica.[14]

Later life

Sohn spent the remainder of his career in South Korea coaching other notable runners such as Suh Yun-Bok, the winner of the Boston Marathon in 1947;[3] Ham Kee-Yong, winner of the Boston Marathon in 1950; and Hwang Young-Cho, who was the gold medalist of the 1992 Summer Olympics marathon, and whom Sohn Kee-chung especially went to Barcelona to see. Sohn also became the Chairman of the Korean Sporting Association. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, he was given the honor of carrying the Olympic torch into the stadium at the opening ceremony.[3][15]

He authored an autobiography entitled My Motherland and Marathon (나의조국과 마라톤).

He was honoured with the Korean Order of Civil Merit (Hangul:국민훈장).

Death and legacy

Sohn Kee-chung died at midnight on November 15, 2002 from pneumonia. He was buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery. The Sohn Kee-chung Memorial Park in Seoul was established in his honor.[15] He was also posthumously made a Grand Cordon (Blue Dragon) of the Order of Sport Merit.

In popular culture

The historical Korean drama Bridal Mask (각시탈) referenced Sohn Kee-chung's Olympic win and the subsequent arrest of Korean journalists in its twenty-first episode.[16] In a parade scene, a Korean boxer, the first Korean to win an international sports title, was officially recognized as Japanese due to colonization and was wearing a Japanese flag on his shirt. He passed by Korean spectators waving the Japanese flag. Suddenly a group of spectators unveiled their Korean flags, which were given to them the night before, waved them at him, and cheered for him. The boxer then removed the Japanese flag from his shirt and cheered with the crowd. After government officials heard about this incident, the boxer and journalists were arrested, and the newspaper was shut down.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Son Gi-Jeong. www.sports-reference.com
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Men's World Record Times – 1932 to 1938. Marathonguide.com. Retrieved on June 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ Shu Yun-Bok's performance was set on a course considered to be short by some road racing authorities, which means Sohn's world best may have truly lasted until the early 1950s. (See the Association of Road Racing Statistician's web pages regarding the Boston Marathon and World Best Progressions.)
  7. ↑ The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea – Late Recognition for Korean Olympic Athlete Sohn Kee-chung. English.chosun.com (December 16, 2011). Retrieved on 2015-06-09.
  8. ↑ Sohn Kee-chung. beijing2008.cn
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Marathon. sports-reference.com
  11. ↑ GERMANS LOOK BACK, GINGERLY, TO THE '36 GAMES. New York Times. August 18, 1986
  12. ↑ Marathon Winner in '36 Berlin Games Will Be Given Prize—50 Years Late. Reuters. August 10, 1986
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Records
Preceded by Men's Marathon World Record Holder
November 3, 1935 – April 19, 1947		 Succeeded by
South Korea Suh Yun-Bok
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