KÅkichi Tsuburaya
Kokichi Tsuburaya (円 谷 幸 吉jap, Kokichi Tsuburaya, born May 13, 1940 in Sukagawa, † January 9, 1968 in Asaka ) was a Japanese long-distance runner.
In 1962 he was Japanese champion in 5000 -meter run and 10,000 -meter run. At this distance he placed several times on national records.
The greatest success of his career, he scored in the marathon run of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. He reached the Olympic Stadium about four minutes after the defending champion Abebe Bikila in second. On the last meters but was overtaken by the British Basil Heatley. Tsuburaya finally finished in 2:16:22,8 h in third place and took the bronze medal. He also appeared in Tokyo Also in the 10,000 -meter run and was sixth in 28:59,4 min.
In the following years, Tsuburaya struggled with ongoing injuries and could not reach his old form. He suffered under the immense pressure of expectations of his countrymen, to repeat at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City 's success in Tokyo at least. About nine months before the Games, he committed suicide by cutting open the artery.
Kokichi Tsuburaya was 1.63 m tall and had a competition weight of 54 kg.