Kurao Hiroshima

Kurao Hiroshima (廣島 庫夫, Hiroshima Kurao, 5 December 1928 – 11 May 1996) was a Japanese long-distance runner who specialised in the marathon. Born in Kitago, Higashiusuki District, Miyazaki, he went on to represent his country twice at the Olympic Games: he finished 33rd in the marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics and returned for the same event four years later at the 1960 Rome Olympics, taking 31st position with a time of 2:29:40.[1]

Outside of the Olympics, Hiroshima experienced much success on the Japanese marathon circuit. He made his first impact at the Japanese national championships: becoming the national champion for the first time in Tokyo in 1953 and for a second time in Fukuoka in 1955.[2] Between 1953 and 1959 he often registered within the world's top twenty fastest marathon runners of the year.[3] He was a three-time winner of the Lake Biwa Marathon, with victories in 1955, 1957 and 1959.[4]

His achievements at the Fukuoka Marathon singled him out as one of the best Japanese runners of his generation: his winning time of 2:21:40 in 1957 was a new Japanese record,[5] the fifth fastest in the world that year.[6] He became the first runner to win twice in Fukuoka when he took the title again two years later.[5]

At the Beppu-Ōita Marathon, he was also the first athlete to win on multiple occasions (in 1956 and 1958).[7] He also proved himself adept at the 20 kilometres distance when he won the Kashima Yutoku 20K in both 1955 and 1957.[8]

Although Hiroshima was largely focused on running in Japan throughout his career, he competed at the Boston Marathon in 1954 and just missed out on a podium place in fourth position.[9]

Achievements
  • All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing  Japan
1955 Mainichi Marathon Ōsaka, Japan 1st 2:26:32
1956 Beppu-Ōita Marathon Beppu-Ōita, Japan 1st 2:26:24
1957 Mainichi Marathon Ōsaka, Japan 1st 2:31:20
Fukuoka Marathon Fukuoka, Japan 1st 2:21:40
1958 Beppu-Ōita Marathon Beppu-Ōita, Japan 1st 2:25:16
1959 Mainichi Marathon Ōsaka, Japan 1st 2:30:06
Fukuoka Marathon Fukuoka, Japan 1st 2:29:34

Personal bests
Event Time (h:m:s) Race Venue Date
Marathon2:21:40Fukuoka MarathonFukuoka, Japan1 December 1957

References
  1. Kurao Hiroshima. Sports-Reference. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  2. National Marathon Champions for Japan. ARRS (2009-12-06). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  3. World Marathon Rankings for 1953. ARRS (2009-08-23). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  4. Biwa-ko Mainichi Marathon. ARRS (2009-02-03). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  5. Nakamura, Ken. Marathon - A history of the Fukuoka International Marathon Championships by K. Ken Nakamura - Part 1 1947-1966. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  6. World Marathon Rankings for 1957. ARRS (2010-01-22). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  7. Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. ARRS (2009-12-24). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  8. Larner, Brett & Ota, Shigenobu (2010-01-24). Kashima Yutoku Half Marathon. ARRS. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  9. World Marathon Rankings for 1954. ARRS. (2009-10-16). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
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