Japan’s Oldest Olympic Medalist Shiro Hashizume Dies At Age 94

by Retta Race 1

March 14th, 2023 Asia, International, News

On March 9th, Japanese Olympian Shiro Hashizume died of prostate cancer at 94 years of age. Hashizume was the oldest living Japanese Olympic medalist.

Hashzume earned the silver medal in the men’s 1500m freestyle at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, with the competition marking Japan’s first participation since World War II.

Nicknamed ‘Fujiyama’s flying fish’ Hashizume got his swimming start at Nihon University, a storied program still turning out world-class swimmers.

According to Asian media, Hashizume founded a swimming school after his competitive retirement, ‘devoting himself to the development and popularization of the sport.’ He also served as a finance committee member and advisor to the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF).

Hashizume was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1992.

The news comes on the heels of British Olympic swimmer Trevor Harrop‘s death. Harrop, one of the last surviving members of the 1948 British Olympic swim team, died on April 9th, just ten days short of his 95th birthday.

10 OLDEST LIVING OLYMPIC SWIMMERS

Data Courtesy: Oldest Olympians Project

OLYMPIAN BIRTH DATE COUNTRY SPORT GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL OLYMPIC YEAR(S)
Iris Cummings December 21, 1920 United States Swimming 0 0 0 0 1936 Berlin
Bea Ballintijn May 9, 1923 Norway Swimming 0 0 0 0 1948 London
Erna Herbers May 2, 1925 Germany Swimming 0 0 0 0 1952 Helsinki
Lies Bonnier July 8, 1925 Netherlands Swimming 0 0 0 0 1952 Helsinki
Frank O’Neill September 30, 1926 Australia Swimming 0 0 0 0 1952 Helsinki
Greta Andersen May 1, 1927 Denmark Swimming 1 1 0 2
1948 London, 1952 Helsinki
Ronald Stedman June 3, 1927 Great Britain Swimming 0 0 0 0 1948 London
Ľudovít Komadel November 1, 1927 Czechoslovakia Swimming 0 0 0 0 1952 Helsinki
Bengt Rask April 28, 1928 Sweden Swimming 0 0 0 0 1952 Helsinki
Bruce Bourke February 5, 1929 Australia Swimming 0 0 0 0 1948 London

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Swimmerfromjapananduk
1 year ago

Rest in peace 🫡

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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