Akinori Nakayama

The native form of this personal name is Nakayama Akinori. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Akinori Nakayama (中山 彰規, Nakayama Akinori; March 1, 1943 – March 9, 2025) was a Japanese gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. Nakayama was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and is a graduate of Chukyo University in Nagoya. Nakayama is one of only three gymnasts to become an Olympic Champion in rings twice.^[1]

Akinori Nakayama 中山彰規
Nakayama in 1966
Personal information
Born	(1943-03-01)March 1, 1943 Nagoya, Japan
Died	March 9, 2025(2025-03-09) (aged 82)
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Gymnastics career
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Country represented	Japan
Medal record Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Team 1968 Mexico City Rings 1968 Mexico City Parallel bars 1968 Mexico City Horizontal bar 1972 Munich Team 1972 Munich Rings 1968 Mexico City Floor exercise 1972 Munich Floor exercise 1968 Mexico City All-around 1972 Munich All-around World Championships 1966 Dortmund Team 1966 Dortmund Floor 1966 Dortmund Horizontal bar 1970 Ljubljana Team 1970 Ljubljana Floor 1970 Ljubljana Rings 1970 Ljubljana Parallel bars 1966 Dortmund Rings 1970 Ljubljana Horizontal bar 1966 Dortmund All-around 1966 Dortmund Vault 1970 Ljubljana All-around

Biography

Nakayama won six medals at the World Championships in 1966, including three gold medals in the team all-around, the floor exercise and the horizontal bar. Two years later, with four gold, one silver and one bronze medals he became the most successful male athlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics. In 1970, he won another four world titles: in team competition, on rings, floor and parallel bars. He won four more medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics.^[2]

After retirement he was the vice-president of the Japanese Gymnastics Federation.^[2] He also served as a gymnastics coach at his alma mater, Chukyo University.^[1] In 2005, he was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.^[3]

Nakayama died from stomach cancer on March 9, 2025, at the age of 82.^[4]

Competitive history

Year	Event	Team	AA	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB
1965
	Summer Universiade
1966
	World Championships
1967
	All Japan Championships
	NHK Trophy
	Summer Universiade
1968	All Japan Championships
	Olympic Games				12		5
1969	NHK Trophy
1970	All Japan Championships
	NHK Trophy
	World Championships						6
1971	All Japan Championships
1972
	Summer Olympics				7		12	5	5

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic medalists
• List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics