Shizuo Takada

Known as the “Canonball King”, Shizuo Takada won the shot put at the Japan Athletics Championships six times between 1927 and 1935 (1927, 1930-31, 1933-35). He also captured first place at the 1930 Far Eastern Games. In 1934 he set a national record with a throw of 14.13 metres, which was not broken until 1953. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, however, he was eliminated in qualifying.

In 1945 Takada survived the explosion of the atom bomb less than one kilometre from the epicenter in his office at the China Electric Power Company, but he lost one of his daughters. Later Takada became a well-known photographer and won honors for his pictures, for instance from the 1960 Roma Olympics. He died in 1963 from leukemia felt to be caused by radiation exposure.

Personal Best: SP – 14.13 (1934).