Sohn Kee Chung

On November 3, 1935, South Korean Sohn Kee-Chung qualifies for the 1936 Olympic Games by setting a world record in the marathon 🏅. He completes the 42.195 km in 2h 26' 42" ⏱️. Due to the occupation of Korea by Japan, Sohn was forced to compete under a Japanese identity. His name was even forcibly changed, becoming Son Kitei. A fervent nationalist, Sohn Kee-Chung took care to explain that Korea was a distinct nation when asked where he came from during the event 📍. 

A silent revolt 

On race day, Sohn won the marathon by more than two minutes ahead of his rivals in 2h29 💨. His compatriot Nam Seung-yong, also under a Japanese identity, finished third behind the British athlete Ernest Harper 🥉. After the victory comes the podium moment. Sohn climbs to the top step to receive his gold medal. But on his face, not a smile 🙁. When the Japanese anthem rings out, the athlete lowers his head and hides the Japanese flag on his jacket 🇯🇵. A sign of protest, this refusal to celebrate became historic 🤓. After this feat, the athlete stopped competing to devote himself to the fight for his country’s independence and to training young prospects such as Suh Yun-bok, a marathon specialist 👏. 

A sportsman becoming a national figure 

Back in South Korea, Sohn Kee-Chung became a national hero. The South Korean daily newspaper Dong-a-Ilbo published a photo of Sohn on the podium with an edit: the Japanese flag on Sohn’s jersey was concealed 🇰🇷. In response, the Japanese colonial authorities imprisoned 8 newspaper employees and suspended publication for nine months ❌.

Independent Korea took part in its first Olympic Games in London in 1948. It was then that Sohn had the honor of carrying the South Korean flag at the opening ceremony 🔥. And in 1988, he carried the Olympic flame at the Seoul Games, moving the whole country 🥲. The footage is striking: Sohn Kee-Chung, 76 years old, is applauded by the entire stadium and the 14,000 athletes present. So that who he was would never be forgotten, the Seoul Olympic Committee sent many letters to Lausanne in the 1980s to have his Korean name restored. The name Son Kitei was removed from the IOC records in 2011, but the athlete died in 2002. 

Marathon runner Sohn Chee-Kung made history by protesting from the top step of the Olympic podium, with his only protest being to lower his head ⬇️. A simple but courageous gesture that left its mark on an entire people.