Kwon Tae-Ha

Kwon Tae-Ha grew up in Keijo (now Seoul) before he went to Japan and later entered the Faculty of Law of Meiji University. He competed in the Hakone Ekiden every year beginning in 1927 while attending Meiji University. While at Meiji he played rugby and competed from 1927-32 regularly in the Hakone Ekiden competition, helping his team to win the overall standings in 1928 and 1929.

In 1932, Kwon returned to Korea, running and winning his first marathon at the Korean trials for the Los Angeles Olympics. Unexpectedly, he also came first in the All-Japan trials (also serving as the national championships) and was selected for the Olympic team. Due to the intense heat during the Olympic race, he came into the stadium completely exhausted and hardly managed to walk the last 10 metres to the finish line. Both Korean-born runners on the team strongly disagreed with the strategy of their team captain Seiichiro Tsuda and did not comply with it. Kwon even refused to return on the same ship with Tsuda and stayed in the USA, attending the University of Southern California, where he eventually majored in physical education. During his time in California Kwon not only recommended Son Gi-Jeong as a member of the next Olympic team but also put a lot of pressure on Tsuda, who was the marathon coach at the time and eventually resigned.

After World War II, Kwon returned to Korea. There, he continued to promote marathon running and held various positions in athletics.

Personal Best: Mar – 2-35:12 (1932).