Yoshio Okita

Yoshio Okita was a life-long friend of Mikio Oda, whom he met during school days. Okita first played tennis, but switched to field events when he grew up to be quite large. He started to practice seriously after he enrolled in the Faculty of Commerce of Waseda University and joined the Waseda Athletic Club in 1924. He immediately became the country’s top athlete in the discus and hammer throw, winning a total of nine national championships – 1923-26 and 1929-30 with the discus and 1925-26 and 1928-29 with the hammer (no championships were held in 1924). During his time at Waseda, he also set 15 Japanese records (9 in discus, 6 in hammer throw) and acted as team captain. In Amsterdam, however, even his personal bests would not have earned him a place in the final of either event.

Four years later, Okita served as team instructor at the Los Angeles Olympics and at the 1936 Berlin Olympics he was head coach of the Japanese track & field team. After the war, he headed the Waseda Athletic Club and for almost 10 years organized the Japan Student Track & Field Championships. When the World Veterans Championships were held in Japan in 1993, Okita won two gold medals in the +90 years division. Okita was also well-known for his abilities in traditional Japanese arts like recitation, dance, and writing Haikus. He died at the age of 98 from pneumonia. His memorabilia are kept in the Waseda University History Center.

Personal Bests: DT – 41.22 (1927); HT – 46.51 (1929).