Shohachi Ishii

Japanese wrestler (1926–1980)

Shohachi Ishii

Shohachi Ishii in 1956

Personal information

Born

September 20, 1926 (1926-09-20)
Tokyo, Japan

Died

January 4, 1980 (1980-01-05) (aged 53)

Alma mater

Chuo University

Sport

Freestyle wrestling

Medal record

Men's freestyle wrestling

Representing Japan
Olympic Games
	1952 Helsinki	Bantamweight

Shohachi Ishii (石井庄八, Ishii Shōhachi, September 20, 1926 – January 4, 1980) was a Japanese freestyle wrestler who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was the first Japanese gold medalist after World War II, the only Japanese gold medalist at the 1952 Olympics, and one of two Japanese medalists in wrestling at the 1952 Olympics, the other being flyweight Yushu Kitano, who won silver in freestyle.^[1]

Ishii took up wrestling because there was no judo club around. He died of kidney cancer, aged 53.^[2]

References

^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Shohachi Ishii". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
^ "石井庄八－敗戦から７年…レスリング界の"求道僧"が快挙" (in Japanese). sanspo.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.