Yukio Endō

Yukio Endo
Yukio Endo at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Born	(1937-01-18)January 18, 1937 Akita City, Akita-ken, Japan
Died	March 25, 2009(2009-03-25) (aged 72)
Height	1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	58 kg (128 lb)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Olympic Games 1960 Rome Team 1964 Tokyo All-around 1964 Tokyo Parallel bars 1964 Tokyo Team 1968 Mexico City Team 1964 Tokyo Floor exercise 1968 Mexico City Vault

Yukio Endo (遠藤 幸雄, Endō Yukio, January 18, 1937 – March 25, 2009) was a Japanese artistic gymnast, Olympic champion and world champion. He was part of the first Japanese team that succeeded to win gold medals in the team event at the Summer Olympics (1960) and World Championships (1962). In 1964 he won the first individual all-around Olympic gold medal for Japan. He was the flag bearer at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Olympics

He won gold medals with the Japanese team in three Olympics, in 1960, 1964 and 1968. At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo he also received two individual gold medals, in parallel bars, and in individual all-around.

World championships

Endō received six individual medals at the 1962 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, including a gold medal in floor exercise, and Japan also won the team competition. He received two individual silver medals at the 1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and Japan won the team competition.

National championships

Yukio Endo in 1966

Endō was a four-time Japanese all-around champion.

Biography and awards

Endo was born in a family of pharmacists, but his mother died from tuberculosis when he was nine. He studied at Akita Technical High School and than at the Tokyo University of Education (now the University of Tsukuba), graduating in 1959. He later worked as assistant instructor of physical education at Nihon University.

He retired after the 1968 Olympics to become a gymnastics coach and eventually professor at Nihon University. He also coached the national team at the 1972 Olympics, acted as director of the Japanese Olympic Committee and was twice appointed as vice-president of the Japan Gymnastic Association. In 1996, he received the Japanese Emperor's Medal, and in 1999 induced into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

He died of esophageal cancer.