As one of the most successful Olympic athletes of all time, Kato (pictured top, left) won 12 medals, including eight golds, across three Games.

He made his Olympic debut at Mexico 1968 where he proved to be Japan's top performer, winning the individual all-around, as well as gold in the floor exercise and bronze in the rings event.

Kato repeated his victory in the all-around competition at Munich 1972, while adding a fifth Olympic title on the parallel bars, and securing silver in the pommel horse and horizontal bar contests.

The athlete tried for an unprecedented third gold medal in the all-around at Montreal 1976, but was defeated by Nikolai Andrianov of the Soviet Union, to instead conclude his Olympic career by retaining his title in the parallel bars.


Kato went on to become a professor at the University of Tsukuba and was elected to the FIG men's Technical Committee in 1992 – a position maintained until his retirement.

He was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2001.

"At the transfer of powers ceremony, and in the presence of the newly elected authorities, the FIG took leave of one of its most beloved collaborators; a gentleman both on and off the mat," read a statement on the FIG website.

"Thus the name Sawao Kato goes down in the annals of FIG history."

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