Los Angeles, Olympic Stadium, August 1932: Chuhei NAMBU of Japan, gold medallist, in action in the athletics triple jump event during the Games of the X Olympiad. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections

Born: 27 May 1904

Deceased: 23 July 1997

Birthplace: Sapporo (Japan)

Nationality: Japan

Sport: Athletics

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Amsterdam 1928

Los Angeles 1932

Olympic medals:

Gold: 1

Bronze: 1

Other results:

Far East Championships

Gold: 1 (30)

Silver: 2 (25)

Bronze: 3 (25, 27, 30)

Learning his technique from animals

Chuhei Nambu participated in three events at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. He placed ninth in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump, and he ran a leg for Japan's 4x100m relay team. By the time of the 1932 Olympics, Nambu was the reigning world record holder in the long jump.

However, at the Los Angeles Games he was bothered by a sore back and placed third. Two days later he entered the triple jump and finished first, setting a world record and achieving the rare distinction of holding the world record in both horizontal jump events.

A native of Sapporo in northern Japan, Nambu tried to practice indoors during the winter. In fact, he was banned from local department stores because he would do his workouts by weaving among the customers while running up and down the stairs. Nambu honed his technique by studying the world around him.

To learn how to run, he watched horses. To learn how to leap, he watched frogs and monkeys. To learn how to move his arms, he watched the wheels of trains. After retiring from competition, Nambu worked as a sports editor for Mainichi Shimbun, served as head athletics coach for Japan at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and worked as a college professor and president.