Chiharu Igaya

Chiharu Igaya OLY (猪谷 千春, Igaya Chiharu, born May 20, 1931) is a former Olympic alpine ski racer and silver medalist from Japan. The first notable alpine racer from Asia, he competed at the Winter Olympics in 1952, 1956, and 1960.[1]

Chiharu Igaya
Alpine skier
Igaya in 1956
DisciplinesSlalom, Giant Slalom,
Downhill, Combined
ClubDartmouth College
Born (1931-05-20) May 20, 1931
Tomari, Kunashiri (ja), Hokkaidō, Japan
Height166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Olympics
Teams3 – (1952, 1956, 1960)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams4 – (1952, 1956, 1958, 1960)
    includes Olympics
Medals2 (0 gold)
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
1956 Cortina Slalom
World Championships
1958 Bad Gastein Slalom

Born in Tomari, Kunashiri (ja), Hokkaidō, Igaya attended college in the United States at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he raced for the Big Green[2] and graduated in 1957. He won the U.S. national title in slalom in 1954 at Aspen, Colorado,[3] and won the NCAA title in 1957 at Snow Basin, Utah.[4]

At the Olympics in 1952, Igaya finished eleventh in the Olympic Alpine slalom event, 20th in the giant slalom competition, and 24th in the downhill. Four years later in 1956, he won the silver medal in the slalom, finished eleventh in the giant slalom, but did not finish in the downhill. All three events were won by Toni Sailer of Austria. At the 1960 Games, Igaya finished twelfth in the slalom, 23rd in the giant slalom, and 34th in the downhill.[1]

Igaya also won a bronze medal in slalom at the World Championships in 1958, and finished fourth in the combined.

After graduation, Igaya worked in insurance, eventually becoming president of the Japanese branch of AIU Insurance Company. In parallel, he served as a sports administrator. Igaya was a member of the FIS alpine skiing committee and vice-president of the International Triathlon Union. He was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1982 to 2012, becoming vice-president in 2005 and an honorary member in 2012.[1][5]

At the 2018 Winter Olympics Igaya was inducted into the Olympians for Life project for giving back to sport.[6]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Chiharu Igaya". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
  2. "Chick Igaya wins Cransmore slalom". Lewiston (ME) Daily Sun. Associated Press. Feb 7, 1955. p. 9.
  3. "Dartmouth skier wins Roch trophy at Aspen". Deseret News. United Press. March 15, 1954. p. 4B.
  4. "Igaya captures NCAA slalom title". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. March 31, 1957. p. 1-C.
  5. "Mr. Chiharu Igaya". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  6. https://olympians.org/news/1064/woa-honours-olympians-for-life-inductees/

Media related to Chiharu Igaya at Wikimedia Commons

Igaya training on the roof of his house in 1951
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