Seiji Aochi

Seiji Aochi achieved his best result when he completed the Japanese medal at the 1972 Olympics. In front of his home crowd in Sapporo, he took the bronze. He had earlier placed 7th in the same at the 1970 World Championships in Czechoslovakia, his top World Championship result. Aochi, also competing in the 1974 World Championships and the inaugural Ski Flying Championships (1972) rarely appeared at the Four Hills Tournament, but placed 6th at the traditional New Year's competition at Garmisch in 1972. Aochi, who always jumped for the team of the Snow Brand Milk corporation, later became a coach for the company. He died at age 66 of stomach cancer.