Tsunekazu Takeda competed in show jumping at the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. He studied law at Keio University, where he later joined the faculty. Takeda joined the Japanese Olympic Committee in 1987 and became its President in 2001. He has also served as a Vice-President of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) from 1998-2002, and was then made an Honorary Vice-President. Takeda was sports director for the organizing committee of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. He has also served twice as Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia, from 2001-03, and again starting in 2011.
In 2001 he was named President of the Japanese Olympic Committee. Takeda was named to the IOC in 2012, and has served on the following IOC Commissions: Coordination for the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010 in Vancouver (2003-10), the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014 in Sochi (2008-14) and the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in 2018 in Pyeong-Chang (2012-18), Evaluation for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in 2022 (2014-22); and Chair of the Marketing Commission (beginning in 2014). Takeda eventually stepped down as an IOC Member in 2019 after he was implicated in a vote-buying scheme during the bidding for the 2020 Olympics, which eventually went to Tokyo.
Japan