Born: 1 January 1907, Japan
Died: 2 August 1931
Country most active: Japan
Also known as: 人見 絹枝, Hitomi Kinue
Japanese track and field athlete Kinue Hitomi held world records in several events in the 1920s and ’30s and was the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal, as well as the first woman to represent Japan at the Olympics.
During the 2nd Okayama Prefectural Women’s Games in 1923, Hitomi set an unofficial national record of 4.67 meters in the long jump event. The following April, she entered what is now the Japan Women’s College of Physical Education. Returning to Okayama that October to participate in the 3rd Okayama Prefectural Women’s Games, she set an unofficial world record of 10.33 meters in the triple jump event. She beat this record the next month at the 1924 Meiji Shrine Games in Tokyo, with a distance of 11.35 meters. She also set an unofficial world record for the javelin throw of 26.37 meters.
In October 1925, Hitomi participated in the 4th Osaka Games, winning the 50 metres event, and again besting her unofficial world record for the triple jump with a distance of 11m62. At the 1925 Meiji Shrine Games in Tokyo, she won both the 50 metres race and the triple jump.
In April 1926, Hitomi began working for the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. In May, she set new unofficial national records for the long jump (5m06), shot put (10m39), 100m hurdles (15m4) at the 3rd Women’s Olympics organised by the newspaper at Miyoshino. The following month, in another competition organised by the newspaper, she set new unofficial national records for the long jump (5m75) and the 4 × 100 metres relay (52s2).
That August, Hitomi was the only Japanese athlete selected to attend the 1926 Women’s World Games in Gothenburg, Sweden. Of the six events she competed in, she earned a gold medal for the long jump, with a distance of 5m50, setting a new official world record, as well as a gold medal for the standing long jump (2m49), silver medal for the discus throw (32m61) and bronze medal for the 100-yard dash (12.0 seconds). She also won an honorary prize from Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) president Alice Milliat for the most individual points earned (15).
In May 1927, at the 3rd Women’s Athletic Meet in Tokyo, Hitomi set two new unofficial world records for the 200-meter run (26.1 seconds) and the standing jump (2m61). She also tied the world record for the 100-meter race at a meet in June. That October, she unofficially tied the world record for the 50-meter sprint (6.4 seconds) as well as the 100-meter sprint (12.4 seconds). Hitomi continued to (unofficially) break world records in early 1928 for the 400-meter run (59.0 seconds) and 100-meter sprint (12.4 seconds). At the Olympic qualifying event in Osaka, she set new official world records for the long jump (5m98) and the 100-meter spring (12.0 seconds), and was one of the first female Olympic athletes from Japan.
Hitomi was the only Japanese woman athlete to compete at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, participating in the 100m, discus, and high jump individual events. After losing the 100m – her main focus – in the semifinals, she decided to join 800m at the last minute, even though she hadn’t run an 800m race at any official competition before. Hitomi became the first Japanese woman to medal at the Olympics when she won silver with a time of 2:17.6, losing by less than a second to Lina Radke (2:16.8).
At the 6th Japan Women’s Olympics in April 1929 Hitomi earned 217 points in the triathlon (100m, high jump, javelin) setting an unofficial world record. The following month, she set an official world record for the 200-meter run with a time of 24.7 seconds, followed in October by new unofficial world records of 12.0 seconds for the 100m and 7.5 for the 60m sprint.
In early 1930, Hitomi was asked to lecture at women’s schools across Japan. That July, she set new official national records for the long jump and javelin throw. In September, she participated in the 1930 Women’s World Games at Prague with five younger Japanese athletes. Despite suffering a fever, Hitomi won the gold medal for the long jump, silver medal for the triathlon and bronze medal for the javelin throw, as well as a silver medal for her 12 individual points.
After the event, the Japanese team proceeded to tour Warsaw, Berlin, Brussels, Paris and London for competitions within the following weeks. The grueling schedule negatively impacted her health. Upon returning to Japan, she was asked to lecture, and visited sponsors and contributors in many Japanese cities with little rest. She was also surprised by the unexpectedly hostile and sexist reception to her success by the Japanese public. On March 25, 1931, she was admitted to an Osaka hospital under a false name to avoid publicity. Hitomi died from pneumonia in August only three years after her Amsterdam Olympic 800m final.