Chiharu Igaya

is a former Olympic alpine ski racer and silver medalist from Japan. He competed in three Winter Olympics (1952, 1956, 1960).

Ski racing Born in Tomari, Kunashiri (ja), Hokkaidō, Igaya attended college in the United States at Dartmouth in New Hampshire, where he raced for the Big Green and graduated in 1957. "Chick" won the U.S. national title in slalom in 1954 at Aspen, Colorado, and took a third consecutive NCAA title in slalom, his sixth individual, in 1957 at Snowbasin, Utah.

At the Olympics in 1952, Igaya finished eleventh in the slalom, 20th in the giant slalom, and 24th in the downhill. Four years later in 1956, he won the silver medal in the slalom, was eleventh in the giant slalom, but did not finish in the downhill. All three events were won by Toni Sailer of Austria. Igaya became the first ever Japanese and the first ever Asian to become a medalist at Olympic Winter Games. He remains the only Japanese to win a medal at an Alpine skiing Olympic event until today. At the 1960 Games, Igaya was twelfth in the slalom, 23rd in the giant slalom, and 34th in the downhill. At the Winter Olympics in 2018, Igaya was inducted into the Olympians for Life project for giving back to sport.

World Championship results Year Age Slalom Giant Slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1952 20 11 20 notrun24 not run 1956 242 11 DNF — 1958 263 6 15 4 1960 28 12 23 34 10 From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).

Olympic results Year Age Slalom Giant Slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1952 20 11 20 notrun24 not run 1956 242 11 DNF 1960 28 12 23 34

NCAA titles

Slalom (3): 1955, 1956, 1957 Alpine (2): 1955, 1956 Downhill:1955