#9 Sawao Kato
When he was a child, Sawao showed very little interest in the sport, however, everything had changed when he entered the Gymnastic hall in Tokyo.
Sawao Kato is the successful male gymnast ever at the Olympics. He competed in 1968 Olympics alongside his elder brother Takeshi and won the team competition, in the all-around and on the floor.
Four years later in Munich, Kato played an important part in the team competition to overcome the arch-rivals Russia. He won three gold medals and two silver medals as Japan finished fifth with 13 golds in the Bavarian Capital.
In the 1976 Summer Olympic games in Montreal, Kato successfully defended his parallel bars title and won the team competition for the third time in a row, taking his overall tally of Olympic golds to eight.
His career spanned from 1968 to 1976 and between these years, he won twelve Olympic medals. Also,he won more Olympic gold medals than any Japanese Olympian and is second after Ono in the total number of medals.
Olympic Games’ appearances: 3
Number.of gold medals: 8
Olympic Games’ medals: 12
| Medal | Olympic games | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1968 Mexico | Individual all-around men, team competition men, floor exercises men |
| Gold | 1972 Munich | Individual all-around men, team competition men, Parallel bars men |
| Gold | 1976 Montreal | team competition men, Parallel bars men |
| Silver | 1972 Munich | horizontal bar men, pommel horse men |
| Silver | 1976 Montreal | individual all-round men |
| Bronze | 1968 Mexico | rings men |
