Shigeru KASAMATSU

Shigeru Kasamatsu started gymnastics at the age of ten and began to train on all apparatuses in junior high school. His first major results came in 1970 when he finished second in the all-around of the Chunichi Cup. At the 1972 Olympics he had his first international success when he was a member of the Japanese team which won a fourth consecutive Olympic team gold. Kasamatsu also medaled in three individual events and placed fifth in the all-around behind three compatriots and one gymnast from the Soviet Union.

Two years later he had his best performance at the 1974 World Championships held in Varna, Bulgaria where he won the all-around and also won gold in floor, horse vault, and with the team. The following years he won the all-around at the NHK Cup thrice (1975-1977), but an emergency appendectomy prevented him from competing at the 1976 Olympics. Kasamatsu again won team gold and gold in horizontal bar as well as silver in floor at the 1978 World Championships and was on the silver medal winning team at the 1979 World Championships, when Japan lost gold for the first time after five consecutive wins between 1962 and 1978.

His wife Kazue Hanyu competed in two Olympics (1968 and 1972) and their son Akihiro Kasamatsu competed in the 2000 Olympics. Shigeru Kasamatsu was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2006 and the )Kasamatsu vault) is named after him.