Yukio Kasaya

Yukio Kasaya

Personal information
Born	(1943-08-17)August 17, 1943 Ōe Village, Japan
Died	April 23, 2024(2024-04-23) (aged 80) Sapporo, Japan
Height	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Sport	Ski jumping
Club	Meiji University Nikka Whisky Distilling
Retired	1976
Medal record Men's ski jumping Representing Japan Olympic Games 1972 Sapporo Individual normal hill World Championships 1970 Vysoké Tatry Individual normal hill

Kasaya on a 1972 stamp of Umm al-Quwain

Yukio Kasaya (笠谷 幸生, Kasaya Yukio, August 17, 1943 – April 23, 2024) was a Japanese ski jumper. At the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo he became the first Japanese athlete to win a gold medal and the second Japanese (after Chiharu Igaya) to win any medal at the Winter olympics. Previously he placed second at the 1970 World Championships and won the first three jumping events at the 1971/72 Four Hills Tournament. He also took part in the 1964, 1968, and 1976 Olympics and served as the Olympic flag bearer for Japan in 1976 and 1998.

Kasaya took up ski jumping at the Taketsuru facility in his native Yoichi, which was built by the founder of Nikka Whisky Distilling Masataka Taketsuru. The facility was renamed after Kasaya in 1972. Kasaya was a long-term employee of the Nikka distillery, eventually becoming its section head.

Kasaya died of heart failure in Sapporo on April 23, 2024, at the age of 80.

External links

• Y. Kasaya at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation