Japanese Legend Akinori Nakayama passed away

 Just one week after his 82^nd birthday, six-time Olympic gymnastics champion Akinori NAKAYAMA died of cancer on 9 March. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he was the most successful participant with four gold medals - still rings, parallel bars, high bar and as member of the Japanese team - as well as bronze in the all-around and silver on the floor. Four years later, at the 1972 Games in Munich (FRG), he won another bronze medal in the Japanese all-around triple behind Sawao Kato and Eizo Kenmutsu, as well as team gold and victory on rings. With his excellent technique of rolling over from the hang and underswing with outstretched arms (the so called ‘Nakayama’), named after him, the 5-time individual apparatus world champion (on 4 different apparatus!) was memorialised in the international gymnastics language in the so-called ‘Code de Pointage’.
Beside successful domestically — he won the All Japan Championships four times between 1966 and 1971 — Nakayama’s biggest international All-Around victories came at the Summer Universiade, which he won in 1965 and again in 1967. During his long career, he amassed seven World Championships golds in 1966 and 1970, and 12 World medals overall.
In his later years after his time as a top athlete, Nakayama devoted himself to the coaching and mentoring he had enjoyed as a young gymnast. The ever-modest Nakayama, who was also vice president of the Japanese Gymnastics Federation, pointed out that his titles and honours were the result of a lot of teamwork.
In 2005, Nakayama was inducted into the ‘International Gymnastics Hall of Fame’ as one of the legends of world gymnastics.  ( ... > German version)
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