Sueo Ōe

Sueo Ōe (大江 季雄, Ōe Sueo, August 2, 1914 – December 24, 1941) was a Japanese athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He won a bronze medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany, tying with his teammate Shuhei Nishida. When the two declined to compete against each other to decide a winner, Nishida was awarded the silver after a decision of the Japanese team, on the basis that Nishida had cleared the height in fewer attempts.[2] The competition was featured in a scene in the documentary Olympia, filmed by Leni Riefenstahl. On their return to Japan, Nishida and Ōe had their Olympic medals cut in half, and had a jeweler splice together two new “friendship medals”, half in bronze and half in silver.[3]

A Nishida-Oe silver-bronze medal
Sueo Ōe
Sueo Ōe (left) and Shuhei Nishida in 1930
Personal information
Native name大江 季雄
NationalityJapan
BornAugust 2, 1914
Nachikatsuura, Wakayama, Japan
DiedDecember 24, 1941 (aged 27)
Wake Island
Alma materKeio University[1]
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight60 kg (130 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Pole vault

In 1937 Ōe set a national record at 4 m 35 cm that stood for 21 years. In 1939 he joined the Imperial Japanese Army and was killed in action in the Battle of Wake Island on December 24, 1941.[1][4][5]

References



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.