Cláudio Mitsuhiro Kano | |
---|---|
Born |
São Paulo, Brazil |
18 December 1965
Died | 1 July 1996 São Paulo, Brazil |
(aged 30)
Occupation | Table tennis player |
Cláudio Mitsuhiro Kano (18 December 1965 - 1 July 1996) was a Japanese Brazilian table tennis player who helped popularize the sport in Brazil and "spearheaded Brazilian table tennis in the 1990s".
Aged 17, he shared two gold medal, in men's doubles and men's team, at the Pan American Games. He went on to win five more golds, three silvers, and two bronze at later Pan American Games. He died in a motorcycle accident in his native São Paulo, aged 30. He had participated in the Summer Olympic Games of 1988 and 1992, but lost in the first stages of both.