Chiharu Igaya

Chiharu Igaya (Japanese猪 谷 千 春, Igaya Chiharu; born May 20, 1931 on Kunashir, Hokkaidō, Japan (now Sakhalin Oblast, Far East, Russia) ) is a former Japanese ski racer. He was in the 1950s, the first skier from Asia, could penetrate into the world top. 1982 Igaya member of the International Olympic Committee, since 2005 he is the Vice President.

Biography

Igaya began while he was studying in the U.S. to focus on ski racing. At Dartmouth College he developed in training under the former ski champion Walter Prager to an international elite runners. In 1952, he took in Oslo for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games and was part of the slalom eleventh. His breakthrough began two years later by winning the U.S. championship in the slalom and Alpine combined. At the Olympic Winter Games 1956 in Cortina d' Ampezzo, he then won the slalom competition behind Toni Sailer surprising the Silver Medal.

His success was Igaya confirm at the World Ski Championships 1958 in Austria Bad Gastein. In the slalom he won the bronze medal, he also finished sixth in the giant slalom and fourth in the combination. In 1960, he won his last title in the U.S. and was at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley again in twelfth in the slalom. Then he ended his active career in sport.

In the following years, Igaya built a successful career as a businessman. In May 1982, he was elected to succeed Tsuneyoshi Takeda in the International Olympic Committee. There he belonged from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2000 on the Executive Committee. 2005, the members of the IOC chose him as one of the vice-presidents of the organization. Igaya has two children with his wife Akiko.