was a Japanese gymnast. He was the father of

Yutaka Aihara is a Japanese former gymnast who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos ...

, also a gymnast. Nobuyuki competed at the 1956 Olympics and won a silver medal in floor exercise and a silver medal in the team competition. Four years later he won gold medals in these events. Aihara took up gymnastic at the age of 15 while studying at the Nippon Sport Science University. He was coached by his future teammate

Masao Takemoto was a Japanese artistic gymnast who won two world titles and seven Olympic medals. At the 1952 Summer Olympics he won the silver medal in the vault with a score of 19.150, which was 0.050 short of the gold medal. Two years later he became world ...

. In 1964 he married

Toshiko Shirasu-Aihara is a retired Japanese gymnast. She competed in all artistic gymnastics events at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a team bronze medal in 1964. Her best individual achievements were fourth places on the vault and uneven bars in 1964. Born Toshi ...

, a fellow gymnast. Because of an injury he missed the Tokyo Olympics that year, and soon retired to become a gymnastics coach. In 1979 he founded the Aihara Gymnastics Club. Aihara died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on July 16, 2013, at the age of 78.Slotnik, Daniel E. (July 19, 2013
Nobuyuki Aihara, Olympic Champion, Dies at 78
New York Times

References

1934 births 2013 deaths Japanese male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Japan Olympic gold medalists for Japan People from Takasaki, Gunma Nippon Sport Science University alumni Olympic medalists in gymnastics Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic silver medalists for Japan {{Japan-Olympic-medalist-stub Infectious disease deaths in Japan 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people