More than 70,000 fans in the National Olympic Stadium — and millions more watching on television — roared as Kokichi Tsuburaya ran on to the track, one lap from securing a silver medal at the 1964 Tokyo Games. The Japanese had not won a medal in track and field, and now Tsuburaya was about to make history.
Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian who captured the gold medal in Rome in 1960 while running barefoot, finished 4 minutes earlier, setting a world record. As Bikila did calisthenics in the infield, Tsuburaya headed to the finish line looking exhausted and pained.
The farm boy-turned-soldier was running in just his fourth marathon, and his gutsy effort would reaffirm the widely held belief in Japan that perseverance and mental toughness can overcome deficiencies in raw talent.