Yukio Endō

Yukio Endō, who lived from 18 January 1937 to 25 March 2009, was a Japanese artistic gymnast, Olympic champion and world champion, and part of the first Japanese team to win gold in the team event at the Summer Olympics, in 1960, and at the World Championships in 1962. At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo he won the first individual all-around Olympic gold medal for Japan and also gold on the parallel bars, and he won team gold at the Games of 1960, 1964 and 1968, carrying the flag at the 1968 Games. Born into a family of pharmacists, he graduated from the Tokyo University of Education in 1959, won six individual medals at the 1962 World Championships including gold on the floor exercise, and was a four-time Japanese all-around champion. After retiring he became a coach and professor at Nihon University, acted as a director of the Japanese Olympic Committee, received the Emperor's Medal in 1996 and entered the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1999.