Author: hawaiisportshalloffame_tih3ud

PIONEER – GOLF Jackie Liwai Pung Pung won the 1952 Women’s National Amateur Golf Championship and was a runner-up in the National Women’s Open. Five years later, she won the LPGA Open but was disqualified for signing an incorrect card. During her 12 years on the LPGA circuit, Pung won nine major tournaments. After her…

CONTRIBUTOR – SPORTS PROMOTION Dr. Larry Price A gentleman and a scholar-athlete, named to Honolulu’s official list of its Top 100 citizens, Dr. Larry Price has touched and influenced thousands of lives across the state of Hawaii and the country. Honored twice by his alumni, the University of Hawai’i, the latest in 2016 with a…

PIONEER – COLLEGE AND OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL Sharon Peterson Sharon Peterson made a name for herself in international volleyball as a member of the first wo U.S. Olympic women’s teams (1964 and 1968) before helping develop the game in Hawai’i. She coached the University of Hawai’i at Hilo to seven national championships. Peterson helped the United…

WORLD CHAMPION – SUMO GRAND CHAMPION Fiamalu “Musashimaru” Penitani Fiamalu Penitani, known as sumotori Musashimaru, was encouraged by success in Greco-Roman wrestling in high school and began his competitive career as a sumotori in 1989 and became a professional in 1991. He quickly moved up the ranks by earning a majority of wins for 52…

PIONEER- FATHER OF AMERICAN KENPO KARATE Edmund Kealoha Parker Edmund Parker was a pioneer teacher of karate in theUnited States and was the founder of the oldest majortournament in the country, the famous International KarateChampionships, held each year in Long Beach since 1965. He authored several respected publications on the art ofkarate, among them: “Kenpo…

OLYMPIC MEDALIST – SWIMMING Yoshinobu Oyakawa Yoshinobu Oyakawa, born on the Kona side of the Big Island of Hawai’i, was a swimming star at Hilo High School and Ohio State. He won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. He was the last of the great “straight-arm-pull” backstrokers.…

PIONEER- AUTO RACING Danny Ongais Danny Ongais was an eleven year veteran of the Indianapolis 500. He was the only driver born and raised in Hawai’i and the only driver of Hawaiian ancestry to compete at the famous oval raceway. Nicknamed the “Flying Hawaiian”, Ongais drove his first Indy in 1977, but his overall auto…

WORLD CHAMPION – BOXING Carl “Bobo” Olson Carl “Bobo” Olson won the World Middleweight Championship by defeating Randy Turpin of England on October 21, 1952, before 18,869 fight fans in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Olson was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1958. His career record was 117 fights, 99 wins,…

WORLD CHAMPION – SURFING Margo Oberg Margo Oberg was a five-time Women’s World Surfing Champion. At the age of 15, she won the World Surfing Contest in Puerto Rico. In 1976 and 1977 she was crowned Women’s World Champion after winning the Bell’s Contest, the Coke, the Brazil International and the Master’s in Hawai’i. She…

CONTRIBUTOR – DIVING Rachel Kealaonapua O’Sullivan In 1965, at 14-years old, Rachel Kealaonapua O’Sullivan won the U.S. Junior AAU one-meter board diving championships at Lincoln, Nebraska and declared right then and there that she wanted to be an Olympic diving champion someday. In October 1968 at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, she narrowly missed…