Sawao Katō facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sawao Katō |
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Katō in 1970
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Japan |
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| Born | October 11, 1946 Gosen, Niigata, Japan |
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| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 59 kg (130 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Sawao Katō (加藤 澤男, Katō Sawao, born October 11, 1946) is a Japanese former gymnast. He is known as one of the most successful athletes in Olympic history. Between 1968 and 1976, he won an amazing twelve Olympic medals. Eight of these were gold medals! This makes him the Japanese Olympian with the most gold medals ever.
Early Life and First Olympics
Sawao Katō was born in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, on October 11, 1946. He studied at the Tokyo Kyoiku University. His journey to Olympic fame began in 1968.
He first competed in the Olympics in 1968 in Mexico City. His older brother, Takeshi Katō, was also on the team. Together, they helped Japan win the gold medal in the team competition. Sawao also won two individual gold medals. He took first place in the all-around event and on the floor exercise. He also earned a bronze medal on the rings.
Olympic Dominance in the 1970s
Four years later, the Japanese men's gymnastics team was incredibly strong at the 1972 Munich Olympics. They won 15 out of 21 possible individual medals! Katō continued his success, winning two more gold medals. He was the champion in the all-around event and on the parallel bars. He also earned two silver medals, one on the horizontal bar and another on the pommel horse.
Katō hoped to win a third straight all-around gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. However, he was beaten by Nikolai Andrianov from the Soviet Union. The team competition was very close that year. Japan managed to defeat the Soviet team by a tiny margin. This win gave Japan its fifth team gold medal in a row! Katō finished his amazing Olympic career by winning another gold medal on the parallel bars.
A Gymnastics Legend
Sawao Katō is one of only ten athletes in history to win eight or more Olympic gold medals. He is considered one of the greatest male gymnasts ever to compete at the Olympics. His eight gold medals and twelve total medals are a huge achievement. Other famous gymnasts like Nikolai Andrianov, Boris Shakhlin, and Takashi Ono also have many medals. However, Katō has more Olympic gold medals than any other Japanese Olympian.
In 2001, Katō was honored for his incredible career. He was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. This special place recognizes the best gymnasts from around the world.
After retiring from gymnastics in 1977, Katō became a professor. As of 2010, he was a professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba. In 2021, a special honor was given to him. An asteroid, named 43212 Katosawao, was named after him! This asteroid was discovered in 2000 by astronomers.
See also
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
- List of multiple Olympic medalists
- List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists
- List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics
