Kurao Hiroshima
Kurao Hiroshima (廣島 庫夫, Hiroshima Kurao, 5 December 1928 – 11 May 1996) was a Japanese long-distance runner who specialised in the marathon. Born in Kitago, Higashiusuki District, Miyazaki, he went on to represent his country twice at the Olympic Games: he finished 33rd in the marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics and returned for the same event four years later at the 1960 Rome Olympics, taking 31st position with a time of 2:29:40.[1]
Outside of the Olympics, Hiroshima experienced much success on the Japanese marathon circuit. He made his first impact at the Japanese national championships: becoming the national champion for the first time in Tokyo in 1953 and for a second time in Fukuoka in 1955.[2] Between 1953 and 1959 he often registered within the world's top twenty fastest marathon runners of the year.[3] He was a three-time winner of the Lake Biwa Marathon, with victories in 1955, 1957 and 1959.[4]
His achievements at the Fukuoka Marathon singled him out as one of the best Japanese runners of his generation: his winning time of 2:21:40 in 1957 was a new Japanese record,[5] the fifth fastest in the world that year.[6] He became the first runner to win twice in Fukuoka when he took the title again two years later.[5]
At the Beppu-Ōita Marathon, he was also the first athlete to win on multiple occasions (in 1956 and 1958).[7] He also proved himself adept at the 20 kilometres distance when he won the Kashima Yutoku 20K in both 1955 and 1957.[8]
Although Hiroshima was largely focused on running in Japan throughout his career, he competed at the Boston Marathon in 1954 and just missed out on a podium place in fourth position.[9]
Achievements
- All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Japan | ||||
1955 | Mainichi Marathon | Ōsaka, Japan | 1st | 2:26:32 |
1956 | Beppu-Ōita Marathon | Beppu-Ōita, Japan | 1st | 2:26:24 |
1957 | Mainichi Marathon | Ōsaka, Japan | 1st | 2:31:20 |
Fukuoka Marathon | Fukuoka, Japan | 1st | 2:21:40 | |
1958 | Beppu-Ōita Marathon | Beppu-Ōita, Japan | 1st | 2:25:16 |
1959 | Mainichi Marathon | Ōsaka, Japan | 1st | 2:30:06 |
Fukuoka Marathon | Fukuoka, Japan | 1st | 2:29:34 |
Personal bests
Event | Time (h:m:s) | Race | Venue | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Marathon | 2:21:40 | Fukuoka Marathon | Fukuoka, Japan | 1 December 1957 |
References
- ^ Kurao Hiroshima. Sports-Reference. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ National Marathon Champions for Japan. ARRS (2009-12-06). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ World Marathon Rankings for 1953. ARRS (2009-08-23). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ Biwa-ko Mainichi Marathon. ARRS (2009-02-03). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ a b Nakamura, Ken. Marathon - A history of the Fukuoka International Marathon Championships by K. Ken Nakamura - Part 1 1947-1966. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ World Marathon Rankings for 1957. ARRS (2010-01-22). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. ARRS (2009-12-24). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ Larner, Brett & Ota, Shigenobu (2010-01-24). Kashima Yutoku Half Marathon. ARRS. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
- ^ World Marathon Rankings for 1954. ARRS. (2009-10-16). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
External links
- Biography and photo from Miyazaki Prefecture website (in Japanese)
- v
- t
- e
- 1947: Toshikazu Wada (JPN)
- 1948: Saburo Yamada (JPN)
- 1949: Shinzo Koga (JPN)
- 1950: Shunji Koyanagi (JPN)
- 1951: Hiromi Haigo (JPN)
- 1952: Katsuo Nishida (JPN)
- 1953: Hideo Hamamura (JPN)
- 1954: Reinaldo Gorno (ARG)
- 1955: Veikko Karvonen (FIN)
- 1956: Keizo Yamada (JPN)
- 1957: Kurao Hiroshima (JPN)
- 1958: Nobuyoshi Sadanaga (JPN)
- 1959–1959: Kurao Hiroshima (JPN)
- 1960: Barry Magee (NZL)
- 1961: Pavel Kantorek (TCH)
- 1962: Toru Terasawa (JPN)
- 1963: Jeff Julian (NZL)
- 1964: Toru Terasawa (JPN)
- 1965: Hidekuni Hiroshima (JPN)
- 1966: Mike Ryan (NZL)
- 1967: Derek Clayton (AUS)
- 1968: Bill Adcocks (ENG)
- 1969: Jerome Drayton (CAN)
- 1970: Akio Usami (JPN)
- 1971–1974: Frank Shorter (USA)
- 1975–1976: Jerome Drayton (CAN)
- 1977: Bill Rodgers (USA)
- 1978–1980: Toshihiko Seko (JPN)
- 1981: Robert de Castella (AUS)
- 1982: Paul Ballinger (NZL)
- 1983: Toshihiko Seko (JPN)
- 1984: Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN)
- 1985: Hisatoshi Shintaku (JPN)
- 1986: Juma Ikangaa (TAN)
- 1987: Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN)
- 1988: Toshihiro Shibutani (JPN)
- 1989: Manuel Matias (POR)
- 1990: Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH)
- 1991: Shuichi Morita (JPN)
- 1992: Tena Negere (ETH)
- 1993: Dionicio Cerón (MEX)
- 1994: Boay Akonay (TAN)
- 1995: Luíz Antônio dos Santos (BRA)
- 1996: Lee Bong-ju (KOR)
- 1997: Josia Thugwane (RSA)
- 1998: Jackson Kabiga (KEN)
- 1999: Gezahegne Abera (ETH)
- 2000: Atsushi Fujita (JPN)
- 2001–2002: Gezahegne Abera (ETH)
- 2003: Tomoaki Kunichika (JPN)
- 2004: Tsuyoshi Ogata (JPN)
- 2005: Dmytro Baranovskyy (UKR)
- 2006: Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)
- 2007: Samuel Wanjiru (KEN)
- 2008–2009: Tsegaye Kebede (ETH)
- 2010: Jaouad Gharib (MAR)
- 2011: Josephat Ndambiri (KEN)
- 2012: Joseph Gitau (KEN)
- 2013: Martin Mathathi (KEN)
- 2014–2015: Patrick Makau Musyoki (KEN)
- 2016: Yemane Tsegay (ETH)
- 2017: Sondre Nordstad Moen (NOR)
- 2018: Yuma Hattori (JPN)
- 2019: Taku Fujimoto (JPN)
- 2020: Yūya Yoshida (JPN)
- 2021: Michael Githae (KEN)
- 2022: Maru Teferi (ISR)