Guo Jie

Guo Jie was a talented athlete in his Japanese determined high school, participating in a variety of sports including basketball, football, and numerous track and field disciplines. His specialty was this discus throw, in which he was crowned champion at the 1935 Chinese National Games, in addition to competing in the shot put and pentathlon events. He set a national discus record of 41.07 m in the trials for the 1936 Summer Olympics, guaranteeing him a spot among the country’s first full Olympic delegation. He failed to advance to the final round of the competition, although he did set a personal best of 41.13 m in his attempt.

Guo returned to Nanjing following the Berlin Games in 1936, but soon moved to Japan, where he studied agricultural science and technology at the Imperial University of Tokyo. He graduated in 1942 and returned to his native country to teach at Peking University. In 1952, several years after the Chinese Civil War, Guo was sent to the city of Xi’an to work in the local agricultural bureaucracy. He remained active as an athlete into this period, competing regularly in the Shaanxi Provincial Games. He eventually ended his career with a stint at the Xi’an Institute of Physical Education. Guo retired in 1987, but with his knowledge of the Japanese language he continued to translate foreign books about health and initiated a survey on the health of elderly people exercising morning gymnastics. By 2007, he was the last surviving member of the Chinese team at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 2008, a month prior to the start of the Beijing Olympics, he helped carry the Olympic Torch through Xi’an.

Personal Best: DT – 41.13 (1936).