Shozo Ishihara

In 1931, Shozo Ishihara was already a Japanese representative at the World Championships in Helsinki. He competed as a speed skater in the 1932 and 1936 Winter Olympics and his fourth place in the 500 m was the highest ranking for a Japanese skater until 1984. During his trip to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he also competed at the European Championships in Oslo. At home, Ishihara took his first two titles in 1930 at the very first national championships over 1,500 m and 5,000 m. For a long time, he was then plagued by sciatic nerve pain before he returned to skating, focusing on the short distance and clinched the titles in the 500 m sprint in 1934 and 1935. When attending Waseda University, Ishihara also won the 500 m titles at the student championships in 1935 and 1937 and set Japanese records in the 500 m.

Personal Bests: 500 – 43.5 (1936); 1500 – 2:26.7 (1936); 5000 – 9:40.7 (1932); 10000 – 19:59.2 (1935).