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Sohn Kee-chung

Sohn in 1936
Personal information
Native name	孫基禎 > 손기정
Nationality	Japan(1912~1945) >  South Korea(1945~2002)
Born	(1912-08-29)August 29, 1912 Shingishu, North Heian, Japanese Korea (current-day Sinuiju, North Korea)
Died	November 15, 2002(2002-11-15) (aged 90) Seoul, South Korea
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Korean name
Hangul	손기정
Hanja	孫基禎
Revised Romanization	Son Gijeong
McCune–Reischauer	Son Kijŏng
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Now coaching	Ham Kee-Yong, Suh Yun-Bok
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	1936 Summer Olympics: Men's marathon; Gold
Medal record Representing  Japan Olympic Games 1936 Berlin Marathon

Sohn Kee-chung (Template:Lang-ko; Korean pronunciation: [son.kidʑʌŋ]; August 29, 1912 – November 15, 2002) was an Olympic athlete and long-distance runner. He became the first ethnic Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, winning gold in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was born in the Korean Peninsula, but he competed as a member of the Japanese delegation because Korea was under Japanese occupation at the time. Sohn set an Olympic record of 2 hours 29 minutes 19.2 seconds.

Sohn competed under the Japanese name Kitei Son, as Korea was under occupancy rule of the Japanese Empire during his career.

Early life

Sohn Kee-chung was born in what is now Sinuiju (previously called Shingishū), North P'yŏngan Province, North Korea, which was occupied by Japan at the time. He was born into the Miryang Son clan [ko]. He studied at Yangchung High School in Seoul and Meiji University in Tokyo, where he graduated in 1940.

Athletics career

Sohn first competed in the 1,500 and 5,000 m, but turned to longer distances after winning an eight-mile race in October 1933. Between 1933 and 1936, he ran 12 marathons; he finished in the top three on all occasions and won nine. On November 3, 1935 in Tokyo, Japan, Sohn set a world record in the marathon with a time of 2:26:42, which broke the world record 2:26:44 set by Yasuo Ikenaka of Japan at the Berlin Olympic trials on April 3, 1935, in Tokyo, Japan. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, the record remained unbroken until Sohn's own trainee, Suh Yun-Bok, won the 1947 Boston Marathon. Unofficially, he even ran a marathon with a time under 2:24 on April 27, 1935 in Seoul, South Korea.

1936 Berlin Olympics

Sohn, competing for the Empire of Japan, won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the marathon. He ran the 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) course in 2:29:19.2, breaking the Olympic record. His teammate Nam Sung-yong took the bronze medal. As Korea was under Japanese occupation at the time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially credited Japan with Sohn's gold and Nam's bronze in the 1936 Summer Olympics medal count.

On December 9, 2011, the IOC recognized Sohn's Korean nationality in his official profile. It cited his efforts to sign his Korean name and his stress on Korea's status as a separate nation during interviews. The move was part of the Korean Olympic Committee's repeated requests to acknowledge Sohn's background. However, the IOC ruled out changing the nationality and registered name per official records to prevent historical distortions.

Political significance

Under orders from Tokyo, Sohn Kee-chung had to compete using the Latin alphabet name of Son Kitei. It is the romanization of the Japanese pronunciation of his Korean name in hanja.

Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem while it was played at his award ceremony and later told reporters that he was ashamed to run for Japan. When the Dong-a Ilbo published a photograph of Sohn at the medal ceremony, it altered the image to remove the Japanese flag from his running tunic. The act enraged the Japanese Governor-General of Korea Minami Jiro in Seoul. The Kempetai military police imprisoned eight people connected with the newspaper and suspended its publication for nine months.

Hellenic prize

For winning the marathon, Sohn was to have received an ancient Corinthian helmet from the 8th century BC, which was discovered at Olympia, Greece, and later purchased by a newspaper in Athens to give as an Olympic award. However, the IOC believed that presenting such a valuable gift to a runner would violate its amateur rules. The helmet was placed in a Berlin museum and remained there for 50 years. It was finally presented to Sohn in 1986. Sohn donated the helmet to the National Museum of Korea, which designated it as the 904th and only Western National Treasure. There was initially a plan to award replicas of this helmet to the winners of the 2006 Sohn Kee-chung marathon, but they eventually got only a chance to wear a replica.

Later life

Sohn was the team manager for the Korea at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics and was the nation's flag bearer in the London 1948 opening ceremony. Sohn spent the remainder of his career in South Korea coaching other notable runners such as Suh Yun-Bok, the winner of the Boston Marathon in 1947; Ham Kee-Yong, winner of the Boston Marathon in 1950; and Hwang Young-Cho, who was the gold medalist of the 1992 Summer Olympics marathon, and whom Sohn Kee-chung especially went to Barcelona to see. Sohn also became the Vice Chairman of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, he was given the honor of carrying the Olympic torch in the stadium during the opening ceremony.

Sohn authored an autobiography entitled My Motherland and Marathon (나의조국과 마라톤).

He was honoured with the Moran Class of the Korean Order of Civil Merit.

Death and legacy

Sohn died at midnight on November 15, 2002, at age 90 from pneumonia. He was buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery. The Sohn Kee-chung Park in Seoul was established in his honor. He was also posthumously made a Grand Cordon (Blue Dragon) of the Order of Sport Merit.

In popular culture

Sohn appears in Zainichi author Yu Miri's semi-autobiographical novel The End of August (『８月の果て』) about her grandfather, Yang Im-deuk, who was a rival of Sohn's when they were young.

Actors who played Sohn Kee-chung

• Portrayed by Yoon Hee-won in the 2011 film My Way.

• Portrayed by Ha Jung-woo in the 2023 film Road to Boston.

References

1. Lewis, Mike (November 29, 2002). "Sohn Kee-chung: Korean athlete whose Olympic protest made him a national hero". The Guardian. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
2. "World Marathon Rankings for 1935". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. September 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
3. ^ Son Gi-Jeong. www.sports-reference.com
4. ^ Longman, Jeré (November 14, 2009). "Korean Olympic Hero Championed Liberty". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
5. "밀성손씨 - 디지털밀양문화대전". www.grandculture.net. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
6. ^ "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. p. 565. Archived from the original on August 6, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. Men's World Record Times – 1932 to 1938. Marathonguide.com. Retrieved on June 9, 2015.
8. However, Suh’s performance was set on a course considered to be short by some road racing authorities, which means Sohn's world record would have lasted until the early 1950s. (See the Association of Road Racing Statistician's web pages regarding the Boston Marathon and World Best Progressions.)
9. The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea – Late Recognition for Korean Olympic Athlete Sohn Kee-chung. English.chosun.com (December 16, 2011). Retrieved on 2015-06-09.
10. Sohn Kee-chung. beijing2008.cn
11. Bull, Andy (August 27, 2011). "The forgotten story of Sohn Kee-chung, Korea's Olympic hero". The Guardian.
12. Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Marathon. sports-reference.com
13. James Markham (August 18, 1986). "GERMANS LOOK BACK, GINGERLY, TO THE '36 GAMES". New York Times.
14. Marathon Winner in '36 Berlin Games Will Be Given Prize—50 Years Late. Reuters. August 10, 1986
15. "Ancient Greek Bronze Helmet". National Museum of Korea. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
16. "손기정 평화마라톤 우승자에 '청동투구' 수여(Korean)". The Hankyoreh. September 20, 2006.
17. "'손기정 평화마라톤' 임진각서 열려(Korean)". Media Daum/Yonhap News Agency. November 11, 2006.
18. "Son Gi-Jeong". olympedia.org. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
19. ^ "Sohn Kee-chung". Korea Times. Retrieved November 4, 2010.

External links

• Profile on www.olympic.org

Records
Preceded by Yasuo Ikenaka	Men's Marathon World Record Holder November 3, 1935 – April 19, 1947	Succeeded by Suh Yun-Bok
Olympic Games
Preceded byRafer Johnson	Final Summer Olympic Torchbearer 1988 Seoul With: Chung Sun-Man & Kim Won-tak	Succeeded byAntonio Rebollo

• 1912 births
• 2002 deaths
• People from Sinuiju
• Korean male long-distance runners
• Korean male marathon runners
• Japanese male marathon runners
• Japanese male long-distance runners
• South Korean male long-distance runners
• South Korean male marathon runners
• South Korean people of North Korean origin
• Olympic male marathon runners
• Olympic athletes for Japan
• Olympic gold medalists for Japan
• Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics
• Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics
• World record setters in athletics (track and field)
• Japan Championships in Athletics winners
• Korea University alumni
• Recipients of the Order of Civil Merit (Korea)
• Deaths from pneumonia in South Korea
• Burials at Daejeon National Cemetery