NOBUYUKI AIHARA, SECOND JAPANESE GOLD IN GYMNASTICS – SportHistoria

Nobuyuki Aihara – da:wikipedia.org

Article by Giovanni Manenti

A discipline which, up to and including the 1948 London Olympics, had seen almost exclusively Western European athletes excel, Artistic gymnastics is literally overwhelmed by the arrival on the scene of the “battleship Soviet”, which dominated the medal table during the 1952 Helsinki Games winning, in the two distinct male and female sectors, something like 22 laurels (9 Gold, 11 silver and 2 bronze…), compared to only 8 for Hungary and 7 for Switzerland, with the latter reciting its own in the Finnish capital “swan song” …

And if Soviet hegemony comes in the women’s field essentially scratched by only two gymnasts, namely the Hungarian Agnes Keleti first and the Czechoslovakian Vera Caslavska then – which we have already discussed – it progressively emerges among males the great rival made up of the Japanese team, which collected just two silvers and as many bronzes in Helsinkito then in turn dominate the scene for three consecutive editions of the Games – from Tokyo 1964 to Munich 1972 – and then find themselves facing the “legendary” Nikolai Andrianov, capable of reaching the podium 7 timeswith 4 gold, 2 silver and a bronze.

But, from the aforementioned Scandinavian debut up to the Olympics organized by your country, there are still two events in which we begin to “build” the next one “Dream Team” Japanese, capable of winning well five consecutive Golds (from Rome 1960 to Montreal 1976) in the General Team Competitionwhose pioneer and first absolute leader is Takashi Ono – which we have already talked about – that in 1956 in Melbourne he became the first gymnast from the Land of the Rising Sun to excel in a test, winning the Barreas well as also collecting three silvers and a bronze…

Four years later in Rome, Ono reaches his consecration, putting three Gold Medals around his neck – General Team Competition, Barre and Vaulting – matching you silver in the individual general competition and bronze in the rings and parallel bars, but, unlike what happened in the Australian metropolis, he is not the only Japanese to climb to the top step of the podium.

Born on December 16, 1934 in Takasaki, a city of over 300 thousand inhabitants in the Kanto Region, Nobuyuki Aihara stands out in particular in the specialties of Rings and Parallel Bars, as well as excelling in the Free Body, becoming part of the National team competing at the Melbourne Olympics 1956 …

On the platforms of the “West Melbourne Stadium”, is thus able to provide a fundamental contribution – especially in the Free Body with 19.10 points and in the Rings with 19.05 – to the silver medal in the General Team Competition, the first laurel in this event for their countrynot far (568.25 total points to 566.40) from the Soviet Union and vice versa with a margin of over 10 points over Finland.

Qualified for the Specialty Finals most suited to him as reported above, Aihara ranked sixth in the parallel bars tied with the Finn Bernt Lindfors in the test that crowns Viktor Chukarin ahead of the Japanese couple formed by Masami Kubota and Ono, while the placing in the Rings is slightly better – tied for fifth with Ono – although only (19.10 to 19.05) 0.05 hundredths of a point behind compatriots Kubota and Masao Takemoto who share the lowest step of the podium behind the Soviets Albert Azaryan and Valentin Muratov …

The situation is different with regards to Free Corps, given that the aforementioned 19.10 points collected for the General Team Competition – at the time gymnasts performed only these two performances (mandatory and voluntary) for each specialty, the score of which made up the ranking of both the Individual General Competition and the individual apparatus – they earned Aihara the silver on equal merit with Chukarin and the Swede William Thoresson (Gold four years earlier in Helsinki…) with success came to Muratov with its 19.20 points.

Japanese who had also concluded the Individual General Competition in tenth position, who had the opportunity to confirm his qualities two years later during the World Championships taking place in early July 1958 in Moscow, contributing 114.30 points to silver in the Overall Team Competitionwhich the hosts won (575.45 to 572.60) with a 2.85 point difference, and then also performed well in the individual specialties…

Without managing to get on the podium this time Free Body, where he placed fourth with 19.350 points in the test which Japan nevertheless won thanks to Takemoto preceding (19,550 to 19,500) Ono – for what is the only world title that eludes the Soviets of the new star Boris Shakhlin – the 23-year-old Aihara replicates this placing in the Vault, and then vice versa, winning the silver at the Rings, where his 19,475 points are surpassed only by Azaryan, the first great performer of this specialty.

The good performances obtained so far comfort Aihara about the concrete possibilities to do better in subsequent seasons, with the main objective being the Rome Olympics, which see the Artistic Gymnastics competitions take place in the evocative setting of the Baths of Caracalla…

With the formula changed this time, i.e. with the scores obtained in the General Team Competition also making up the Individual Competition, while for the individual specialties the same are only valid to establish the six gymnasts who will take part in the Final taking with them half of the points obtained in qualifying, that’s it Aihara contributes with his score of 114.40 to the first Japanese success in the team eventhaving the better (575.20 to 572.70) over the Soviets and with Italy completing the podium.

This score also allows the 25-year-old Japanese to improve his own placing in the Individual Competition, placing seventh in the race narrowly won (115.950 to 115.900) by Shakhlin over Ono, to then qualify as in the southern hemisphere for the individual rings, parallel bars and floor exercises…

To the tools, Aihara, who entered the Rings with the fifth qualifying score, confirms this position, with Azaryan reiterating his position his absolute supremacy in this specialty to precede (19.725 to 19.500) Shakhlin, as well as in the Parallel, where the fourth place in qualifying is also the final one, with Shakhlin taking the top step of the podium this time ahead (19.400 to 19.375) of the Italian Giovanni Carminucci …

It remains the Free Corps, in whose Final Aihara starts with a slight margin (9.650 to 9.625) ahead of Titov and, knowing that we have the opportunity of a lifetime to achieve “Olympic Glory“, he is not influenced by emotion and, performing an exercise awarded by the Judges with 9.80 compared to the 9.70 of the Sovietcan proudly boast of being the second gymnast from his country to win an Olympic Gold Medal.

There is only one void, now to be filled, for the gymnast from the Land of the Rising Sun, and that is to also win an individual world championship title, a mission victoriously completed two years later at the World Championships scheduled in Prague at the beginning of July 1962 and in which, although this time providing a slightly smaller contribution to the confirmation in the General Team Competition, which saw Japan prevail (574.650 to 573.150) by only 1.50 points over the Soviet Union, it still managed to qualify for the Rings Finals and to the Free Corps…

To the tool, Azaryan’s legacy is taken up by Titov, who prevails (19.550 to 19.425) over the rising star Yukio Endo and Shakhlin who finish tiedwith Aihara on the edge of the podium with his 19,250 points, and then reiterating his superiority to the Free Body, despite having to share first position (19,500 for both) with the 25 year old Endo.

By now the path has been traced, as early as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics the Japanese team took shape which, in addition to confirming the Gold in the team event, he also won the individual General Competition for the first time – which later saw a gymnast from the Land of the Rising Sun excel on six other occasions – thanks to Endo and, for Aihara, the time has come to step aside…

With the legitimate pride in having been, together with the much more famous Takashi Ono, one of those who sowed the seed upon which the winning era of Japanese Gymnastics subsequently blossomed.

And, while we’re talking about seed, Aihara sposa Toshiko Shirasuwho was a member of the women’s bronze team in the team competition at both the Prague 1962 World Championships and the 1964 Tokyo Games, the union from which was born Yutaka Aihara, also bronze in Vaulting at the 1991 Indianapolis Championships and in teams the following year at the Barcelona Olympics…

How do you say: “he who sows reaps…!!”

2024-05-11 18:09:43
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