The Japanese Olympic Committee is pleased to announce that two of the JOC Honorary Members and Olympians of the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, Kiyoko Ono and Saburo Kawabuchi were awarded the Olympic Order for their outstanding service to the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Order was presented by Mr. Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, during his visit in Tokyo, on 19 October 2016.
"It is a great honour to receive this Olympic Order. I am not the only one who is receiving this award. This Order is a Gold medal for the future growth of Japanese children’s heart and body through sport," Olympic bronze medallist Ono said.
She continued, "Through artistic gymnastics, I have done my best for the development of youth and to create a healthy and long-lived society, little by little. I would like to keep on continuing to help to build a healthy and long-lived society and take actions that lead to global peace."
"I am very grateful to receive such an award and I would like to express my gratitude to President Mr. Thomas Bach and to all the people involved," said Kawabuchi. "My respectful teacher is Mr. Dettmar Cramer and I have learned not only football from him but also about philosophy of life. Unfortunately, Mr. Cramer has passed away last year at the age of 90. But still, I am very sure that he will be delightful to share this happiness of accepting this Olympic Order from President Mr. Bach."
The awarding ceremony was held in the presence of IOC Vice Presidents Mr. John Coates and Mr. Zaiqing Yu, IOC Executive Board Members Mr. Ching-Kuo Wu and Mr. Ser Miang Ng, WADA President Sir Craig Reedie, Vice Chair of Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission Mr. Alex Gilady, JOC Executive Board Members and JOC Honorary Members.
The Olympic Order was established in 1906 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in order to award groups or individuals who have made an outstanding achievement for the development of Olympism. In 1975, Ryutaro Azuma, former IOC honorary member, who has made a great contribution to the bidding and organising the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games was awarded the Olympic Order who became the first Japanese awardee. Since then 60 Japanese have received the Order and total number of laureates is now 62.
For more information, please contact:
Japanese Olympic Committee
Public Affairs, Marketing & Strategic Planning Department
Tel: +81-3-3481-2258
Email: pressoffice@joc.or.jp
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