Sohn Kee-chung

Sohn Kee-chung (; ; August 29, 1912 – November 15, 2002) was a Korean Olympic athlete and long-distance runner. He became the first Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, winning gold in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was born in the Korean Peninsula, but he was forced to compete as a member of the Japanese delegation because Korea was under Japanese rule at the time. Sohn set an Olympic record of 2 hours 29 minutes 19.2 seconds.

Early life Sohn Kee-chung was born on August 29, 1912, in Sinuiju (then "Shingishū"), Heianhoku-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now in North Korea).

Sohn reportedly had a talent for running even at a young age. In sixth grade, he placed first in a regional 5 km race, beating out older competitors.

Athletics career In 1931, he ran as the representative of his province at the Chōsen Shrine Competition in Seoul (Keijō), and placed first. In 1932, he came in second in the Kyŏngyŏng Race , which was hosted by newspaper The Dong-A Ilbo. In April 1932, he won the Tokyo-Yokohama ekiden (road race). According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, the record remained unbroken until Sohn's own trainee, Suh Yun-Bok, won the 1947 Boston Marathon. Unofficially, he ran a marathon with a time under 2:24 on April 27, 1935, in Seoul.

1936 Berlin Olympics Sohn, competing for the Empire of Japan, won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the marathon. He ran the course in 2:29:19.2, breaking the Olympic record.

Political significance

Under orders from Tokyo, Sohn Kee-chung had to compete using the Latin alphabet name of . It is the romanization of the Japanese pronunciation of his Korean name in hanja.

Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem while it was played at his award ceremony and later told reporters that he was ashamed to run for Japan.

Hellenic prize

For winning the marathon, Sohn was to have received an ancient Corinthian helmet from the 8th century BC, which was discovered at Olympia, Greece, and later purchased by a newspaper in Athens to give as an Olympic award. However, the IOC believed that presenting such a valuable gift to a runner would violate its amateur rules. The helmet was placed in a Berlin museum and remained there for 50 years. It was finally presented to Sohn in 1986. Sohn donated the helmet to the National Museum of Korea, which designated it as the 904th and only Western Treasure. There was initially a plan to award replicas of this helmet to the winners of the 2006 Sohn Kee-chung marathon, but they eventually got only a chance to wear a replica.

Later life Sohn was the team manager for the Korea at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics and was the nation's flag bearer in the London 1948 opening ceremony. Sohn spent the remainder of his career in South Korea coaching other notable runners such as Suh Yun-Bok, the winner of the Boston Marathon in 1947; He was honored with the Moran Class of the Korean Order of Civil Merit.

Death and legacy Sohn died at midnight on November 15, 2002, at age 90 from pneumonia. He was buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery. The Sohn Kee-chung Park in Seoul was established in his honor. He was also posthumously made a Grand Cordon (Blue Dragon) of the Order of Sports Merit.