Naoto TAJIMA

Naoto Tajima first competed internationally at the 1932 Olympics, where he was sixth in the long jump. In 1934, Tajima won the long jump and added a bronze in the triple jump at the Far Eastern Games. The high point of his career came at the 1936 Olympics, where he first won bronze in long jump and then two days later captured gold in the triple jump with a world record of 16.00, which stood until 1951. In 1938 Tajima was scheduled to compete at the Far Eastern Games, but they were cancelled due to the Second Sino-Japanese War and Tajima thus retired from sports.

Tajima remained active in Japanese athletics as managing director of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations. He was a member of the Japanese Olympic Committee and coached the its athletics team at the 1956 and 1964 Olympics. Outside of sports, Tajima who graduated from Kyoto Imperial University (now Kyoto University) with an economic degree shortly before his 1936 Olympic victory, worked for a Mitsui Sunagawa coal mine. He also worked as a lecturer at Chukyo University.

Personal Bests: LJ – 7.74 (1935); TJ – 16.00 (1936).