Mitsuo Tsukahara

Mitsuo Tsukahara, born on 22 December 1947, is a Japanese artistic gymnast and five-time Olympic gold medalist who won five gold, one silver and three bronze medals. He competed throughout the late 1960s and 1970s and retired in 1978 after the World Championships, and he was an important contributor to Japan's team victories at three consecutive Olympic Games, in 1968, 1972 and 1976. His name is attached to two famous skills: the full-twisting double salto in the tuck position, sometimes called the Moon Somersault, which the Code of Points credits him with premiering on floor exercise and horizontal bar, and the Tsukahara vault, a roundoff entry onto the horse into a backward salto. He married the gymnast Chieko Oda and served as vice president of the Japan Gymnastic Association, and his son Naoya Tsukahara became a multi-medalist at World Championships and Olympic Games from the late 1990s.