was a Japanese long-distance runner. Unusually for an elite athlete, he combined training with his job as a high school teacher at Takehara Senior High School. Unetani had a personal best for the marathon of 2.12:12 which he set in the

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on its ...

in 1970. He competed in the marathon at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, placing 36th. He secured his place at Munich by finishing third in the

Lake Biwa Marathon The was a marathon race held in Otsu, Shiga, Japan. It was one of the prominent marathons in Japan. It was a male only competition and had IAAF Gold Label status.Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-07)Tsegay takes Lake Biwa crown IAAF. Retrieved on 2010- ...

, a race he had won the previous year. He won the 1969 Boston Marathon in a time of 2.13:49. Unetani died from pneumonia in Wu City, Hiroshima Prefecture, on 5 November 2022, at the age of 78.

References

1944 births 2022 deaths Japanese male long-distance runners Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for Japan Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Japan Japanese male marathon runners Boston Marathon male winners Nippon Sport Science University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in Japan {{Japan-athletics-bio-stub