Delores Boeckmann研究 : 女性スポーツのパイオニアの足跡をめぐって

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the professional career of Delores Boeckmann (1904-1989), a pioneer in women's sports in the USA. Boeckmann ran the 800 meters in the Ninth Olympic Games in Amsterdam (1928), the first Olympic Games in which woman could participate. After the Games she turned gradually to coaching track and field and then worked as the director of various sports organizations. She was the first women to have held such positions. After World War Ⅱ, Boeckmann came to Japan to work for the US Army Special Service as the Recreation Director of Korea for 16 years. From 1950-1951, she coached the Japanese women's track and field team at the request of General MacArthur. In addition, she taught the theory of physical education, track and field, and recreational sports at Japan Women's College of Physical Education from 1951-1958 ; although no mention of this work is made in previous studies on Boeckmann in the US. Still such activity most definitely provided nice memories for her students. Boeckmann was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1976 and into the Missouri Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1977.