Takeshi So

Takeshi Sō ( Japanese 宗 猛 , Sō Takeshi ; born January 9, 1953 in Usuki ) is a former Japanese marathon runner who, together with his older twin brother Shigeru , belonged to the world's best in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1975 he was sixth in the Fukuoka Marathon , and in 1976 he won the Košice Peace Marathon . In 1978 he finished second in the Beppu-Ōita marathon and won the Lake Biwa marathon . In 1979 he was nominated for the Olympic Games in Moscow as third in Fukuoka, just like his brother, who had finished second, but the boycott of his country prevented participation.

In 1980 he finished second in Fukuoka in 2:09:49, four seconds behind Toshihiko Seko , who was also the victim of the Olympic boycott . The two Japanese took second and third place on the annual world best list.

The following year he finished second in the Beppu-Ōita marathon and fifth in Fukuoka. In 1983 he finished second in the Tokyo International Men's Marathon with his personal best of 2:08:55. As fourth (and third-best Japanese) in Fukuoka, he qualified like his brother for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in late 1983 , where he finished fourth, while Shigeru came in 17th.

In 1985, he and his victorious brother came second in the Beijing Marathon . In 1998 he finished third in Beijing and in 1990 second at Lake Biwa. At the age of 43, he finished eighth in the 1996 Beppu--ita marathon in 2:16:32.

Web links

• Takeshi Sō in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )