Koji Murofushi Japanese Athlete From Numazu

Early life

Koji Murofushi, whose full name is Alexander Koji Murofushi, is a Japanese former hammer thrower and sports scientist. He was born on 8 October 1974 in Numazu, in Shizuoka Prefecture, and is of Japanese and Romanian descent; he speaks Romanian. His father, Shigenobu Murofushi, was an Olympian who held the Japanese hammer record for 23 years, until his son broke it. Koji began throwing the hammer at the age of ten, taught by his father.

He attended Narita High School and then Chukyo University, where his father coached the track and field team. After an undergraduate degree in physical education he completed a doctorate at Chukyo in 2007.

Career

Before reaching the world's top level, Murofushi built a record in Asian competition. He took bronze at the 1993 East Asian Games, silver at the Asian Championships in 1993 and 1995, and silver at the 1994 Asian Games. His first title came at the 1997 East Asian Games, and he won gold at the 1998 Asian Games. Globally, he placed eighth at the 1992 World Junior Championships, tenth at the 1997 World Championships and ninth at the 2000 Olympics.

His results rose in 2001, when he won silver at the World Championships and gold at both the Goodwill Games and the East Asian Games, setting a Games record at the latter. In 2002 he won the Asian Championships and the Asian Games, as well as silver at the World Cup, and in 2003 he took bronze at the World Championships. That year he threw 84.86 metres, the longest hammer throw in more than ten years, which placed him fourth on the all-time list.

At the 2004 Olympics he won the gold medal after Adrian Annus was disqualified. In July 2006 he won both the World Athletics Final and the World Cup. He finished sixth at the 2007 World Championships, third at the 2007 World Athletics Final and fifth at the 2008 Olympics. In 2009 he won his fifteenth consecutive Japanese national title, and he added another the following year. In 2010 he topped the inaugural IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, helped by a world-leading 80.99 metres in Rieti.

In August 2011 he became world champion, the oldest man to win the world hammer title, and he received the International Fair Play award at the same championships. At the 2012 Olympics in London he won the bronze medal. His season-best marks declined through the following years, and the last distance in his progression table is 64.74 metres in 2016.

Murofushi also built an academic career. He became an associate professor of physical education at Chukyo University in 2011, joined Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 2014, and serves there as professor of physical education and director of the sports science center.

Recognition

The Japanese government awarded Murofushi the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2004. His major results include Olympic gold in 2004 and bronze in 2012, world championship gold in 2011, silver in 2001 and bronze in 2003, and Asian Games titles in 1998 and 2002.

Public roles

In July 2011 the Japanese Olympic Committee put Murofushi forward for the IOC Athletes' Commission, with the vote held during the 2012 Olympics. He received enough votes to be elected, but the IOC voided his candidacy because of inappropriate campaigning by the JOC during the Games. In June 2014 he was appointed sports director for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In October 2020 he became commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency and served a five-year term.