Nagoya, Japan, September 18, 2024: One of Asia’s most influential and charismatic sports administrators, Yuko Arakida of Japan, has passed away after a short illness. She was 70 years old.
Arakida, known popularly as "Yu san", won an Olympic gold medal as part of Japan’s women’s volleyball team at Montreal 1976 and went on to become a great champion of athletes’ rights both in Japan and in Asia.
She was a well-respected leader in various Olympic and sports organizations, including the Japan Volleyball Association, International Volleyball Federation FIVB, Japanese Olympic Committee, Olympic Council of Asia as former Chair of the OCA Athletes’ Committee and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games organising committee.
“Yuko Arakida passed away on the 16th. She had been sick for some time, but her condition suddenly worsened recently. May she rest in peace,” a former JVA executive, Kazuyuki Kojima, confirmed on Wednesday.
“It is so sad for me, but I want to honour her achievement - a gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a member of the winning team that represented Japan at the 1974 World Championships and the 1977 World Cup.
“She served as head of the Japan Volleyball Association's national team training operations, a director of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and a programme member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“She has a wide network of contacts in the domestic and international sports world, including the IOC, OCA, FIVB and Asian Volleyball Confederation. She was a negotiator with international sports organizations in the bid for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and served as a director and vice president of the organizing committee.
“She was also nominated to be the first female president of the Japan Volleyball Association, but declined due to various circumstances,” Kojima added.
As Chair of the OCA Athletes’ Committee, Arakida played a prominent role in encouraging the OCA’s 45 National Olympic Committees to establish their own athletes’ committee/commission to represent the opinion of athletes in all matters related to the Olympic Movement. She was succeeded as OCA AC Chair by Mikako Kotani, who was recently elected as a member of the OCA Executive Board at the General Assembly in New Delhi.
The Director General of the OCA, Mr. Husain Al Musallam, said Arakida’s passing was a sad day for the Olympic movement in Japan, Asia and the world.
“As a national team volleyball player, Mrs Arakida reached the pinnacle of her sport by becoming Olympic champion at Montreal in 1976,” he said.
“After that, she became a very prominent and charismatic sports administrator and leader in Japan and especially for the OCA. As Chair of the OCA Athletes’ Committee, Mrs Arakida worked tirelessly on behalf of the athletes to give them a voice in the Olympic Movement.
“This is a very sad day for the OCA and for Japan. We will never forget her vitality and her contribution to the Olympic movement in Japan and Asia."
Capt. Husain is in Japan for the OCA Coordination Committee meeting with the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games organising committee starting on Thursday.
