Kōji Kojima

Japanese volleyball coach

Kōji Kojima (小島孝治, Kojima Kōji, June 26, 1930 – May 27, 2014^[1]) was a Japanese Olympic volleyball coach. He led the Japanese Olympic women's volleyball team to a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.^[2]

Kojima became the coach of the Japanese Olympic team in 1970, succeeding Hirobumi Daimatsu, whose women's team had won a gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.^[2] Under Kojima, Japan's women's volleyball team won silver in 1972, losing to the Soviet Union in a match played in the aftermath of the Munich massacre.^[2]

His team was favored to win gold in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, but Japan boycotted the games following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.^[2] Kojima later became the general director for the Japanese athletes at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.^[2]

Koji Kojima died at a hospital from pneumonia on May 27, 2014, at the age of 83.^[2]

References

^ "【訃報】元全日本女子バレーボールチーム監督　小島孝治さん(83歳)逝去" (in Japanese). Japan Volleyball Association. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Volleyball coach Kojima, 83, dies". Japan Times. 2014-05-27. Retrieved 2014-06-25.