08/22/2026
🏃♂️🇯🇵 SHIZO KANAKURI: THE OLYMPIC MARATHON RUNNER WHO FINISHED 54 YEARS LATER
Shizo Kanakuri was among Japan’s first Olympic athletes, but his journey at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Marathon turned into one of the most unusual stories in Olympic history.
His trip to Sweden took nearly 18 days, traveling by ship and the Trans-Siberian Railway. By the time he arrived, the exhausting journey had already taken a toll. 🚢🚂
On July 14, 1912, Kanakuri began the marathon under extremely hot conditions. Nearly half of the runners failed to finish, and Portuguese athlete Francisco Lazaro tragically died after collapsing during the event. 🕊️
Kanakuri struggled during the race and eventually stopped at a house along the route. A Swedish family welcomed him, offered him a drink, and allowed him to recover. ❤️
Feeling embarrassed about leaving the race, he quietly returned to Japan without notifying the organizers. With no official record of his withdrawal, Swedish authorities eventually regarded him as missing. 😳
But his running career was far from over. He competed in two more Olympic Games, later became a geography teacher, and played an important role in promoting long-distance running in Japan. 🇯🇵🏃♂️
Then came an incredible twist. In 1967, Swedish television located Kanakuri and invited him back to Stockholm.
He accepted—and finally completed the marathon he had started more than half a century earlier. 🏁🥹
His officially recorded time became 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds. ⏱️
Kanakuri later joked about how long the journey had taken. During those 54 years, he had married, raised six children, and become a grandfather to ten grandchildren. ❤️👨👩👧👦
He passed away in 1983 at age 92, leaving behind an extraordinary story of perseverance, humility, and an Olympic finish unlike any other. 🏅✨
