3-time Olympic marathoner Akio Usami died of cancer on Oct. 26. He was 83. Born May 31, 1943 in Yoshida, Niigata as the third of 9 siblings, Usami played basketball in junior high school and tennis in high school before starting running after entering Nihon University. Running with a recreational club his 1st year, he joined the NU track team his 2nd year just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and immediately showed promise, making NU's Hakone Ekiden starting team 3 years in a row. During his 3rd year he won the Ninth Stage at the 41st Hakone in 1965, playing a key role in NU's overall victory.
After graduating he joined the Riccar corporate team and was superb in the marathon, a distance he had already started running while in university. He took 9th in the marathon at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, 12th in the 1972 Munich Olympics marathon, and 32nd in the 1976 Montreal Olympics marathon. Other achievements in his outstanding career included 4-straight marathon wins in international races like Fukuoka and Athens in 1970-1971, and a PB of 2:10:38 at the 1970 Fukuoka International Marathon, at the time the 3rd-fastest time ever.
Usami was also known as a research scholar. He earned a graduate degree from NU and went on to study at the University of Cologne in Germany. Combining theory and practice, he made significant contributions to in the areas of running biomechanics and footwear design. He taught at NU and was an assistant professor in physical education at Tokai University, where he later became a full professor and then professor emeritus. He also also contributed to the promotion and development of sports, serving as a member of the JAAF High Performance Committee, a board member of the Japan Blind Marathon Association and Japan Student Triathlon Union, and as chair of the Sports Volunteer Association NPO.
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