Naoto Tajima

Naoto Tajima

Personal information
Born	August 15, 1912 Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Died	December 4, 1990 (aged 78) Tokyo, Japan
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Long jump, triple jump
Medal record Representing Japan Olympic Games 1936 Berlin Triple jump 1936 Berlin Long jump

Naoto Tajima (田島 直人, Tajima Naoto, August 15, 1912 – December 4, 1990) was a Japanese athlete who competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. In 1932 he finished sixth in the long jump, while in 1936 he finished third in the long jump, behind Jesse Owens and Luz Long, and won the triple jump event, setting a world record at 16.00 m. This record stood until 1951, when Adhemar da Silva improved it by one centimeter.

Raised in Iwakuni, Tajima graduated in economics from Kyoto Imperial University just prior to competing in the Olympics. His gold medal was Japan's last Olympic track and field gold medal until Naoko Takahashi won the women's marathon at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Tajima retired from competitive athletics in 1938 but maintained an administrative role as managing director of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations. He was also a member of the Japanese Olympic Committee, coached the Japanese athletics teams at the 1956 and 1964 Olympics, and worked as a lecturer at Chukyo University.