Makoto Sakamoto – Tokyo Olympian and Coach of Champions

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many Olympians from the 1964 Summer Olympics, over the phone, but yesterday I met in person with my very first oversees interviewee, Mr Makoto Sakamoto. Mako-san was visiting Tokyo, and it was a tremendous honor to meet the highest scoring performer on the US Men’s Gymnastics team in 1964.

Born in bombed-out Tokyo Japan, Mako-san left for the United States with his family when he was 7. At the age of 16, he got his US citizenship. At the age of 17, he was recognized as the country’s best gymnast, and represented America in the country of his birth, competing with the very best in the world, finishing 20th overall in the individual competition.

The world of men’s gymnastics at that time was dominated by countries like Japan, USSR,

Yugoslavia and Italy. The US was competitive, but not considered a threat.

But in 1984, a team whose head coach was Melbourne and Rome Olympian, Abie Grossfeld, and whose assistant coach was Mako-san, did something that hadn’t been done in the previous half a century – win gold in the Olympics. Of that amazing team – Tim Daggett, Bart Connor, Mitch Gaylord, James Hartung, Scott Johnson and Peter Vidmar – Mako-san personally coached Daggett, Vidmar as well as Gaylord at UCLA.