Yoshinori Sakai
Torch relay last runner, Games of the XVIII Olympiad, in Tokyo, Japan
About Yoshinori Sakai
Lived 1945 – 2014 (aged 69). Yoshinori Sakai was a Japanese athletics competitor.
was the Olympic flame torchbearer who lit the cauldron at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Biography Sakai was born in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, the day an atomic bomb was dropped on that city. He was chosen for the role to symbolize Japan's postwar reconstruction and peace. He never actually competed in any events at the Olympics.
Two years after the Olympics, he won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay and a silver in the 400 m at the 1966 Asian Games. He joined Fuji Television in 1968 as a journalist and worked mainly in the fields of news and sports.
He died of cerebral bleeding in Tokyo at age 69, on September 10, 2014.
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Yoshinori Sakai?
Torch relay last runner, Games of the XVIII Olympiad, in Tokyo, Japan
When was Yoshinori Sakai born?
Yoshinori Sakai was born on 6 August 1945 in Miyoshi.
When did Yoshinori Sakai die?
Yoshinori Sakai died on 10 September 2014 in Bunkyō-ku.
What was Yoshinori Sakai's occupation?
Yoshinori Sakai was an athletics competitor.
What nationality was Yoshinori Sakai?
Yoshinori Sakai was Japanese.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Yoshinori Sakai. https://biography.guide/yoshinori-sakai/
MLA: "Yoshinori Sakai." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/yoshinori-sakai/.
Chicago: "Yoshinori Sakai." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/yoshinori-sakai/.
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