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Bronze Statue of Berlin Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist Sohn Kee-Chung Features Korean Flag on Its Chest Instead of Rising Sun

http://japanese.joins.com/article/527/223527.html

translated by Brett Larner
photo by Horst Milde

A bronze statue of marathoner Sohn Kee-Chung showing him crossing the finish line in first in the 1936 Berlin Olympics marathon has been raised near the Berlin Olympic Stadium.  On its chest is not the Rising Sun, Japan's national flag, but the Korean flag.

On Dec. 12, the Korean Cultural Center in Berlin held a ceremony to unveil the statue on Glockenturm Street near the Berlin Olympics marathon course. Sohn's grandson Lee Jung-Soon, director of the Sohn Kee-Chung Memorial Foundation, said, "Being remembered as the Korean Sohn Kee-Chung was my grandfather's greatest wish.  I am deeply moved to help realize that wish by placing this statue outside the Berlin Olympic Stadium."

In 2006, the 70th anniversary of Sohn's victory, the Foundation had previously tried to erect two bronze statues, one in the Seoul Olympic Stadium and the other at the Berlin Olympic Stadium.…
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A Visit to the AIMS Marathon - Museum of Running

Today I attended an event at the Berlin Sports Museum's AIMS Marathon - Museum of Running through an invitation from Berlin Marathon founder Horst Milde and Dr. Helmut Winter.  A few pictures from the day:


1936 Berlin Olympics marathon gold medalist Sohn Kee Chung of Korea with eyes covered and downcast to avoid looking at the Japanese flag and doing his best to cover the Rising Sun on his chest during the medal ceremony.

The Naoko Takahashi booth, including one of the shoes she wore in her historic first-ever women's sub-2:20 WR at the 2001 Berlin Marathon.

Berlin Marathon founder Horst Milde (center) with the first two Berlin Marathon winners, 1974 champ Guenter Hallas (right) and 1975 winner Ralf Bachroeder (left)

Presenting the rarest and strangest race t-shirt in my collection, a signed shirt from the cancelled 30th anniversary running of the Kanagawa Half Marathon featuring a picture of an aged 1988 Seoul Olympics marathon gold medalist Gelindo Bordin, to Milde as a donation…
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IOC to Change Name Listing of 1936 Marathon Gold Medalist Sohn

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/f-sp-tp0-20111216-877260.html

translated by Brett Larner

On Dec. 15 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that in its official website listing of Olympic medalists the entry for Japanese citizen and 1936 Berlin Olympics marathon gold medalist, the late Son Kitei, would be changed to Sohn Kee-Chung, the Korean pronunciation of his name.  The record will also include a note explaining that he was a native of the Korean peninsula, a Japanese colony at the time.

The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) has long demanded that the listing of Son's name be changed from the Japanese reading "Son Kitei."  An IOC spokesperson commented, "We don't want to change Olympic history," explaining that the switch to the Korean pronunciation will not be made in the official records, to which a footnote giving the Korean pronunciation "Sohn Kee-Chung" will be appended.

Also to be included are an account of a Korean news…
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