Page 81

MIRUTS YIFTERTwo-time Olympic gold medallist Miruts Yifter has passed away, aged 72. The Ethiopian long-distance runner was affectionately known as “Yifter the shifter” for his devastating turn of pace in the finishing straight, and stormed to victory in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the Olympic Games Moscow 1980. He also won 10,000m bronze in Munich in 1972.SAMMY LEEAmerican diver and two-time Olympic gold medallist Sammy Lee has died, aged 96. Lee was the first man to win back-to-back Olympic titles in platform diving, with 10m platform gold in 1948 and 1952. He later coached notable Olympians Bob Webster and Greg Louganis. Shun-ichiro Okano, IOC Honorary Member in Japan, has passed away at the age of 85.An ex-international footballer, Okano worked as coach of the Japanese men’s football team at the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 and in Mexico City four years later, when Japan became the first Olympic football medallists from Asia after defeating hosts Mexico in the bronze medal match.He went on to hold the highest positions at the Japanese Football Association, and was instrumental in helping Japan and the Republic of Korea successfully host the 2002 FIFA World Cup as Organising Committee Chairman of the event. Okano also played a key role at the Japanese Olympic Committee, and joined the IOC in 1990, becoming an Honorary Member in 2012.PAUL ELVSTRØMDenmark’s Olympic sailing legend Paul Elvstrøm has died at the age of 88. Elvstrøm won individual gold medals at four successive Olympic Games between 1948 and 1960. He also competed at the Olympic Games Mexico City 1968 and in Munich four years later, before returning for Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988 when his daughter, Trine, crewed for him, making them the only father/daughter combination to have competed together at the Games. He retired from sailing after Seoul, ending a hugely successful 40-year career that also saw him win 13 world championship titles in seven monotype sailing classes. Elvstrøm was named Denmark’s sportsman of the century in 1996.JEAN VUARNETTrailblazing Olympic skiing champion Jean Vuarnet has died at the age of 83. The Frenchman won downhill gold at the Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley 1960, becoming the first skier to win an Olympic title on metal skis. During those Games, he also pioneered his revolutionary “egg position” – now known as the tuck – which saw him adopt a lower stance in which he squatted down with knees bent, arms out-front and fists clasped together.SHUN-ICHIRO OKANOIOC HONORARY MEMBER, ADMINISTRATOR AND COACH WHO INSPIRED JAPAN TO AN HISTORIC BRONZE MEDALOLYMPIC REVIEW 81OBITUARIES