Eizo Kenmotsu is a gymnast who has competed for Japan. He competed at the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Summer Olympic Games. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful male Japanese gymnasts of all-time. Among his three Olympic trips, he won a total of nine medals with three in each color.
Aged twenty and eight months, Kenmotsu became the youngest Japanese gymnast in history to win an Olympic gold medal after the team finals at Mexico City 1968. His record lasted for almost 48 years until Kenzō Shirai attained such feat at Rio de Janeiro 2016 when he was only 19 years and 11 months old. Coincidentally, Kenmotsu shared a similar fate with Shirai in the apparatus finals as each of them were awarded an individual bronze at their Olympic debut, the former on the horizontal bar and the latter on the vault.
Four years later in Munich, the Japanese men's team, including Kenmotsu, dominated the entire competition at the Games, taking 15 out of the 21 individual medals awarded to the gymnasts. Apart from his team's fourth-straight title defense, Kenmotsu finished second behind the defending champion and his teammate Sawao Katō in the all-around final and added two more bronze on the parallel bars and pommel horse.
The team portion turned into a close competition between Japan and Soviet Union for the gold at Montreal 1976, with Kenmotsu assisting the Japanese men to their fifth straight triumph over the latter by 0.4 of a point. Kenmotsu aimed for an unprecedented individual gold in the apparatus finals, but he untimely lost twice to fellow three-time Olympian Mitsuo Tsukahara on the horizontal bar and Hungarian favorite Zoltán Magyar on the pommel horse.
Olympic Results[]
Year | Event | Result |
---|---|---|
1968 | Men's individual all-around | 4th |
Men's team | ||
Men's floor | 6th | |
Men's vault | 6th | |
Men's parallel bars | 5th | |
Men's horizontal bar | ||
Men's rings | 7th | |
Men's pommel horse | 5th | |
1972 | Men's individual all-around | |
Men's team | ||
Men's floor | 4th | |
Men's vault | 4th | |
Men's parallel bars | ||
Men's horizontal bar | 4th | |
Men's rings | 5th | |
Men's pommel horse | ||
1976 | Men's individual all-around | Q6 |
Men's team | ||
Men's floor | 6th | |
Men's vault | 15th | |
Men's parallel bars | 17th | |
Men's horizontal bar | ||
Men's rings | 5th | |
Men's pommel horse |
1968[]
Discipline | Stage | Score |
---|---|---|
Individual all-around | Final | 114.900 |
Team | Final | 575.900 (114.900) |
Floor | Qualification | 19.250 |
Final | 18.925 | |
Vault | Qualification | 18.950 |
Final | 18.650 | |
Parallel bars | Qualification | 19.250 |
Final | 19.175 | |
Horizontal bar | Qualification | 19.350 |
Final | 19.375 | |
Rings | Qualification | 19.000 |
Final | Did not advance | |
Pommel horse | Qualification | 19.100 |
Final | 19.050 |
1972[]
Discipline | Stage | Score |
---|---|---|
Individual all-around | Qualification | 114.750 |
Final | 114.575 | |
Team | Final | 571.250 (114.750) |
Floor | Qualification | 19.050 |
Final | 18.925 | |
Vault | Qualification | 18.800 |
Final | 18.550 | |
Parallel bars | Qualification | 19.300 |
Final | 19.250 | |
Horizontal bar | Qualification | 19.400 |
Final | 19.350 | |
Rings | Qualification | 19.100 |
Final | 18.950 | |
Pommel horse | Qualification | 19.100 |
Final | 18.950 |
1976[]
Discipline | Stage | Score |
---|---|---|
Individual all-around | Qualification | 115.150 |
Final | Did not advance | |
Team | Final | 576.850 (115.150) |
Floor | Qualification | 19.100 |
Final | 19.100 | |
Vault | Qualification | 19.000 |
Final | Did not advance | |
Parallel bars | Qualification | 18.750 |
Final | Did not advance | |
Horizontal bar | Qualification | 19.500 |
Final | 19.500 | |
Rings | Qualification | 19.250 |
Final | 19.175 | |
Pommel horse | Qualification | 19.550 |
Final | 19.575 |