Olympians: Hitomi Kinue

All month, we're talking about Olympians. Tune in to hear incredible stories of women who either were in the Olympics or likely should have been!

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know -- but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Leading Ladies, Activists, STEMinists,  Local Legends, and many more. Encyclopedia Womannica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi. My name is Mayashibutani. I am a two time
Olympic medalist in the sport of ice dance and one
of the authors of the Kudo Kids book series. As
a Japanese American woman who represents Tmusa, I am excited
to guest host this episode and introduce you to someone
who I think you'll be inspired by. This is Encyclopedia Womanica.

(00:35):
Our athlete of the day, was the first woman to
win an Olympic medal for Japan. Her dazzling come from
behind performance made waves at the first Olympics open to
female athletes. Let's talk about kitol Me Kinoway. Kinawey was

(00:56):
born on January first, nineteen oh seven, in the Okayama
Prefecture in Japan. Her parents were wealthy rice farmers who
could afford to send her to the nearby school. From
a young age, Keenoway excelled in school athletics. She showed
promise as both a volleyball and tennis player before finding

(01:16):
her true passion track and field. While still in school,
Keenaway set national records for both the javelin and the
triple jump. The triple jump, for those who aren't familiar,
is a sort of cousin to the more traditional long jump.
Instead of leaping once into a sandpit at the end

(01:36):
of a long runway, a competitor in the triple jump
will leap three times, each time off of one foot
before landing in the sandpit. The event requires great balance, precision,
and strength. Keenaway posted the world record for the triple
jump in nineteen twenty five. The following year, in nineteen

(01:58):
twenty six, she said another world record in the triple jump.
This time the record stood until nineteen thirty nine. At
the time, Keinowe was dominating Japan track and field, there
was no formal organization around women's international sports. The official
Olympic Games were not open to female athletes. The founder

(02:23):
of the International Olympic Committee or IOC, was stridently against
women joining the Games. In an attempt to quiet growing
calls for integration, the IOC created a separate Women's World
Games in nineteen twenty. The second of the Women's World

(02:43):
Games were held in nineteen twenty six in Gotenburg, Sweden.
There was only one Japanese representative, Kinue. Nineteen year old
Keinawe quickly became the darling of the second Women's World Games.
While We're now accustomed to young female athletes capturing audiences
at the Olympics. This was an entirely new phenomenon. Keenowa's

(03:07):
performance earned the hype. While competing in Gotenberg, she set
an official world record in long jump, placed first in
standing long jump, second in the discus, and third in
the hundred yard dash. At the end of the games,
Japan placed fifth overall with a total of twenty three points.

(03:27):
All twenty three points were earned by Keenoway. Just two
years later, Keinowe was thrust back into the international spotlight,
now under new leadership. The nineteen twenty eight Olympics included
some female athletes, but progress was slow moving. Only women's

(03:49):
gymnastics and women's track and field were included, and the
number of track and field events available for female athletes
was limited. The Olympic organizers had excluded the two hundred
meter race, the event and distance Keenaway felt most confident with.
She entered the hundred meter dash in its place, but

(04:12):
misqualifying for the finals by fractions of a second. Determined
not to return to Japan empty handed, she entered the
eight hundred meter dash. This was an unconventional decision, to
say the least. The hundred and two hundred meters are
dead sprints. It's all about power. The eight hundred meters

(04:34):
is considered one of the most complicated race distances, since
it requires a challenging combination of both speed and stamina.
Keinaway's coach told her the trick would be to fight
her instinct to sprint at the beginning and save some
gas in the tank for later. But when you're used
to running sprints, that's easier said than done. When it

(04:57):
came time for the eight hundred meter race, Kinuay immediately
jumped out to the front, sprinting the first half, but
as her stamina began to fade, other runners started to
pass her. Kinuey fell all the way back to seventh place.
Reflecting on the race, Kinuway said it was in this

(05:19):
moment that she recalled her coach saying to use her
arms when her legs were tired. Struggling to stay in
the race, Kinuay began swinging her arms higher and higher,
pumping them above eye level. Just like her coach said.
Her arms helped power her body, and she gained ground

(05:39):
on the other runners in the final straightaway. The last
fifty meters of the race, she pushed past her exhaustion
and thrust forward to the finish line. Kinuway won the
silver with a time of two minutes and seventeen seconds.
She was only point eight seconds behind the gold medalist.

(06:02):
Keinuway's time broke the standing world record and remained the
record in Asia for more than twenty years. With her
come from behind second place finish, Keinuey became the first
Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal. With Keinuey's newfound
celebrity status came sexist critiques from the Japanese press. At

(06:25):
five to seven, keinuwe stood taller than most Japanese women.
Reporters frequently cast her gender into question, asking Keinuway if
she was actually a man, or if she was worried
sports were making her body too masculine. Despite these sexist attacks,
keinue kept competing. In nineteen thirty, she returned for the

(06:49):
third Women's World Games in Prague. There, she maintained her
world title in long jump, finished second in the triathlon
and third in both the sixty meter dash and javelin.
As a result, she placed second overall in the individual standings.
Following the close of the Women's World Games, Kinuey competed

(07:12):
in twenty events in one week, first in seven events
against Poland, then six days later in another six events
against Belgium. The following day, she competed in her final
seven events against France. Over the course of this week,
Kinuway's versatility and power were on full display, but her

(07:38):
dynamic performance would also be the end of her career.
As a result of the physically demanding schedule of these
European competitions, Kinuey returned to Japan and was hospitalized for pleurisy.
She died from pneumonia on August second, nineteen thirty one.
She was twenty four years old. Tune in all month

(08:03):
on Encyclopedia Womanica to hear about Olympians. To get Wamanica
in your inbox, check out the Wamanica Weekly newsletter. Follow
Encyclopedia Womanica on Facebook and Instagram at Encyclopedia Wamanica, and
you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. I'm at

(08:23):
Maya Shibutani. Thank you so much for listening. Have a
great day.