Radial distribution of gas holdup for recirculating turbulent flow in a bubble column is theoretically studied on the basis of time-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for both gas and liquid phases. The basic equations are simplified for the recirculating turbulent flow, and the radial distribution of gas holdup is successfully shown to be parabolic, which is experimentally well-known. On the way of derivation, it is shown that the radial velocity fluctuation of the liquid phase was mainly caused by two adjacent bubbles, and that the radial drug force acting on a bubble is proportional to the Reynolds stress of the gas-liquid multiphase.