"Kinue Hitomi (1907-1931)" - 2 -

In 1928, when Kinue was 21-year-old, the Ninth Olympic Games was held at Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Even though Japanese Olympic delegation consists of 40 athletes, Kinue was only female athlete.

The world record holder of 100-meter sprints of the time as she was, she challenged 100m dash with all her heart and mind and strength.
However, in despite of her effort of will, she lost in the semifinal match.
She was deeply ashamed of herself and thought "I can never return to Japan with such a (miserable) result! Am I such a person who does that? I have to fight to clear my own name and fulfill my responsibility... My last chance is 800 meters... I do not have energy enough to spare for running in 800 meters, but I have to try as hard as I can till I fall down..."
She made a fresh resolve to compete in 800 meters. She could reach the semifinal at eighth position then won silver medal in the final match, after she was in keen competition with German athlete.

Having a celebration in honor of her great achievement, New York Evening Post (present New York Post) reported, "Our stereotyped image of Japanese women was delicate and feeble. However, Kinue Hitomi has defeated powerful competitors with her speed and spiritual strength. She has changed our philosophy of Japanese women."

In the same year, Kinue marked a world record of 5.98 meters in the long jump, which had not been broken for ten years ever since.

At the age of 23 in 1930, the Third Women's Olympic games was held at Prague, the Czech Republic. Six women athletes came into participate in this Olympic from Japan. In order to send these women athletes to enter the track and field events, Kinue tried hard to develop those athletes and raised the fund. At the Olympic in Prague, Japan won fourth place in eighteen countries and Kinue won the second place in the individual score.

Afterwards, Prague city praised her achievement and built a stone monument with the words, "We appreciate Kinue Hitomi who made shine the world."
Even after coming back to Japan, she worked very hard to develop women's track and field in Japan, but she suddenly passed away due to pneumonia, when she was only 24-year-old.

According to her autobiography, we could find not only her great achievements but also her engaging personality. For example, when Kinue participated in the Second Women's Olympic Games held at Goteborg in Sweden in 1928, she was supported by the local stadium staffs so that she could use a track for her practice and they experienced her pleasure vicariously when she made great achievements. It's seems to me that people of those days must have been touched with her passionate devotion and faith.

Do you know Kinue's other great achievements not only on the track?
Today, we can see symbolic scenes in various sport events that Kinue left. For example, an entrance march with placards showing school name, singing a school song by winner schools in High School Baseball Tournament, and an exclusive coach for athletes, those things are established based on her proposals.

end

[Reference] "Honoo no sprinter" written by Kinue Hitomi