Japanese Olympian Masami Yoshida passes
away
K.Ken Nakamura
Three time Olympic Javelin thrower Masami Yoshida passed away after suffering a heart attack in his home in Tokyo around 4pm on March 7. He was 41.
Yoshida was born on June 14, 1958 in Wakayama. He represented Japan at three Olympic Games – in Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. His best Olympic performance was in Los Angeles when he was fifth with 81.98m. He also won the Javelin throw at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing with 77.26m.
Together with Kazuhiro Mizuguchi, the pair were Japan’s premier javelin throwers during the 1980’s. Yoshida was four-time national champion, in 1981, 1983, 1984, and 1992. During the 1981 edition of these championships, he set his first national javelin throw record of 82.96m. Later in 1983, he set two more national records: 84.30m and 87.18m. At the time of his death, he was the JAAF Director of Throwing Events and a popular field event television commentator.
