Dear IPF Member Federations,
It is with great sadness that I notify you of the passing of Mr. Koichi Nakatani from the Japanese Powerlifting Association (JPA). He was only 62 years of age.
Professionally, Mr. Nakatani was a teacher for many years at Kukushkin High School, where devoted his time to not only teaching, but coaching the high school powerlifting team for well over 25 years. Many of his athletes were All-Japan High School Champions. A large number of his athletes moved on to lifting at the university level, and have become IPF World Champions.
Mr. Nakatani was also an IPF Category 2 Referee. He attended many of the IPF World Championships with quite a few Japanese National Teams. He served proudly as a board member of the Tokyo Powerlifting Association (TPA) for well over 20 years, where he directed many national championships. He also served as TPA’s Vice-President.
On behalf of the IPF Executive Committee, I want to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Nakatani for all of his years of service to our sport. I want to also send my sincere condolences to Koichi’s friends, and family members, as well as to all of the athletes, past and present, of the JPA.
We will miss Mr. Nakatani. May he rest in peace!
Gaston Parage
President
International Powerlifting Federation
