Takako Shirai (volleyball)

Takako Shirai
Personal information
Full nameTakako Shirai (-Takagi)
Born (1952-07-18) 18 July 1952 (age 72)
Okayama, Okayama, Japan
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Number8 (1972)
5 (1976)
National team
1970–1977 Japan
Honours
Women's volleyball
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1972 Munich Team
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1974 Mexico
FIVB World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1977 Japan
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1970 Bangkok Team
Gold medal – first place 1974 Tehran Team

Takako Shirai (白井貴子 Shirai Takako, Korean: 윤정순, Hanja: 尹貞順, born 18 July 1952) is a former volleyball player from Japan and two-time Olympian who was a member of the Japanese women's national volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.[1][2][3] Shirai also helped Japan win the silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.[2] She was an outside hitter.[1]

Shirai became a key player in the rise of the Japanese women in the 1970s. She helped the Japanese women secure a gold medal at the 1974 FIVB World Championship in Mexico.[2] She was also key in Japan's gold medal win at the 1977 FIVB World Cup in Japan.[1]

In 2000, Shirai became an inductee of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts.[1]

National team

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Takako Shirai". International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Takako Shirai". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  3. ^ Herman, Robin (31 July 1976). "Japan's Women Top Russians in Volleyball". The New York Times. p. 34. Retrieved 1 October 2024. (subscription required)