:Sawao Katō

{{Infobox gymnast

|name= Sawao Katō

|image= Sawao Kato 1970.jpg

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|caption=Katō in 1970

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|birth_date= {{nowrap|{{birth date and age|1946|10|11}}}}

|birth_place= Gosen, Niigata, Japan{{Efn|Japan was under the Allied occupation at the time of Katō's birth.}}

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| height = {{convert|1.63|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|discipline=MAG

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|retired= 1977

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{{Nihongo|Sawao Katō|加藤澤男|Katō Sawao|born October 11, 1946}} is a Japanese former gymnast and one of the most successful Olympic athletes of all time. Between 1968 and 1976 he won twelve Olympic medals, including eight gold medals, making him the most successful Japanese Olympian by number of gold medals won.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ka/sawao-kato-1.html |title=Sawao Kato |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417041106/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ka/sawao-kato-1.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020}}

Biography

File:Sawao Kato cropped 1 Sawao Kato 202011.jpg

Katō was born in Niigata Prefecture on October 11, 1946, and studied at the Tokyo Kyoiku University. He first competed in the Olympics in 1968, alongside his elder brother Takeshi. They won the team competition, with Sawao also taking gold medals in the all-around and on the floor. He placed third in the rings event.

Four years later the Japanese men's gymnastics team dominated the 1972 Olympics, taking 15 out of 21 individual medals. Katō won gold medals all-around and in the parallel bars and silvers on the horizontal bar and pommel horse. He aimed for an unprecedented third gold medal in the all-around at the 1976 Summer Olympics, but was defeated by Nikolai Andrianov. The team competition was close this time, but the Japanese defeated the Soviets by four tenths of a point, earning their fifth consecutive title. Katō closed out his Olympic career by retaining his title in the parallel bars.

Katō is one of only ten athletes to have won eight or more Olympic gold medals. He is one of the most successful male gymnasts ever at the Olympics: his eight gold and twelve overall medals are best rivaled by Nikolai Andrianov's seven gold and 15 overall, Boris Shakhlin's seven gold and 13 overall, and Takashi Ono's five gold and 13 overall. He won more Olympic gold medals than any Japanese Olympian, and is second after Ono in the total number of medals. In 2001, Katō was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.{{cite web | title = SAWAO KATO | work = International Gymnastics Hall of Fame | url = http://www.ighof.com/honorees/honorees_kato.html | access-date = May 12, 2007 }}

As of 2010, Katō was a professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba.[http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/english/topics/20101216151341.html The Statue of Dr. Jigoro Kano Unveiled]. University of Tsukuba. December 1, 2010 On May 14, 2021, Jovian asteroid 43212 Katosawao, discovered by astronomers with the American LINEAR survey in 2000, was {{MoMP|43212|named in his honor}}.