ID :
15875
Thu, 08/14/2008 - 20:14
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https://oananews.org//node/15875
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Olympics: Kitajima completes golden double at Beijing Games
BEIJING, Aug. 14 Kyodo - Japan's Kosuke Kitajima underlined his status as Asia's undisputed swim king when he completed a golden double with victory in the men's 200-meter breaststroke at the Beijing Olympic Games on Thursday.
Kitajima led from start to finish at the Water Cube and touched the wall in an Olympic record time of 2 minutes 7.64 seconds to give Japan its fifth goldmedal in Beijing.
Australian Brenton Rickard clocked 2:08.88 for the silver and Frenchman HuguesDuboscq timed 2:08.94 for the bronze.
''I'm glad that I won this race,'' said Kitajima. ''I was going to improve my time a bit more but I guess to win this race is more important than setting a good time. I thought I could set 2:06 but I guess I was being greedy.'' Kitajima, who smashed Brendan Hansen's world record to win the 100 breaststroke here on Monday, becomes the first Olympic swimmer to successfully defend bothbreaststroke titles.
He is also the first Japanese breaststroker to win consecutive 200 titles since in 76 years. Yoshiyuki Tsuruta won it at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and thenagain in Los Angeles four years later.
''Winning the 100 was a big factor for today. I felt different after that,'' said Kitajima. If I hadn't won that race I would have been anxious. The medal I got in the 100 made me more at ease.'' Kitajima looked a good bet to break the world record he posted in Tokyo in June when he made the turn for home 0.19 faster than world record pace. However, hemissed out after tiring in the last 50 meters.
''I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get the (world) record but obviously delighted to win,'' said Kitajima. ''For the last 50 meters I was slower than I thought but all in all I had a good race.'' Kitajima's gold medal was the fourth of his career. Men's gymnast Sawao Katohas eight gold medals, the most gold ever won by a Japanese athlete.
There was disappointment, however, for Yuko Nakanishi as the Athens bronze medalist missed out on a medal in the women's 200 butterfly in what looks setto be her last Olympics.
Nakanishi finished fifth in 2:07.32, over three seconds behind Liu Zige, who obliterated the world record to take the gold in 2:04.18 and lead China to a 1-2 finish. Jiao Liuyang timed 2:04.72 while Australia's Jessicah Schipper wonthe bronze in 2:06.26.
''I gave everything I had (but) when someone posts a world record like that...Ithink this is my last Olympics,'' said the 27-year-old Nakanishi.
France's Alain Bernard took the men's 100 freestyle gold, edging out Australia's Eamon Sullivan to win in 47.21 seconds. American Jason Lezak andCesar Cielo Filho of Brazil both clocked 47.67 for the bronze.
In the morning session's other final, Japan's Haruka Ueda, Misaki Yamaguchi, Maki Mita and Emi Takanabe combined to time 7:57.56 and finished seventh inthe women's 4x200 freestyle relay won by Australia in a world record 7:44.3l.
China (7:45.93) and the United States (7:46.33) won the silver and bronze.
In other races, Japan's Ryosuke Irie advanced to the men's 200 backstroke final as the fourth fastest qualifier in 1:56.35. Ken Takakuwa was fifth fastest in the men's 200 individual medley semis with a Japanese record of 1:58.49 butTakuro Fujii failed to advance.
American Aaron Piersol, the 100 and 200 backstroke Olympic champion, topped the field in 1:55.26. Ryan Lochte was fastest in the 200 individual medleyqualifiers in 1:57.69 and Michael Phelps second in 1:57.70.
Meanwhile, Japan will have two swimmers in the women's 200 breaststroke final for the first time after Megumi Taneda (2:25.42) and Rie Kaneto (2:25.65)qualified in seventh and eighth.
Kitajima led from start to finish at the Water Cube and touched the wall in an Olympic record time of 2 minutes 7.64 seconds to give Japan its fifth goldmedal in Beijing.
Australian Brenton Rickard clocked 2:08.88 for the silver and Frenchman HuguesDuboscq timed 2:08.94 for the bronze.
''I'm glad that I won this race,'' said Kitajima. ''I was going to improve my time a bit more but I guess to win this race is more important than setting a good time. I thought I could set 2:06 but I guess I was being greedy.'' Kitajima, who smashed Brendan Hansen's world record to win the 100 breaststroke here on Monday, becomes the first Olympic swimmer to successfully defend bothbreaststroke titles.
He is also the first Japanese breaststroker to win consecutive 200 titles since in 76 years. Yoshiyuki Tsuruta won it at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and thenagain in Los Angeles four years later.
''Winning the 100 was a big factor for today. I felt different after that,'' said Kitajima. If I hadn't won that race I would have been anxious. The medal I got in the 100 made me more at ease.'' Kitajima looked a good bet to break the world record he posted in Tokyo in June when he made the turn for home 0.19 faster than world record pace. However, hemissed out after tiring in the last 50 meters.
''I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get the (world) record but obviously delighted to win,'' said Kitajima. ''For the last 50 meters I was slower than I thought but all in all I had a good race.'' Kitajima's gold medal was the fourth of his career. Men's gymnast Sawao Katohas eight gold medals, the most gold ever won by a Japanese athlete.
There was disappointment, however, for Yuko Nakanishi as the Athens bronze medalist missed out on a medal in the women's 200 butterfly in what looks setto be her last Olympics.
Nakanishi finished fifth in 2:07.32, over three seconds behind Liu Zige, who obliterated the world record to take the gold in 2:04.18 and lead China to a 1-2 finish. Jiao Liuyang timed 2:04.72 while Australia's Jessicah Schipper wonthe bronze in 2:06.26.
''I gave everything I had (but) when someone posts a world record like that...Ithink this is my last Olympics,'' said the 27-year-old Nakanishi.
France's Alain Bernard took the men's 100 freestyle gold, edging out Australia's Eamon Sullivan to win in 47.21 seconds. American Jason Lezak andCesar Cielo Filho of Brazil both clocked 47.67 for the bronze.
In the morning session's other final, Japan's Haruka Ueda, Misaki Yamaguchi, Maki Mita and Emi Takanabe combined to time 7:57.56 and finished seventh inthe women's 4x200 freestyle relay won by Australia in a world record 7:44.3l.
China (7:45.93) and the United States (7:46.33) won the silver and bronze.
In other races, Japan's Ryosuke Irie advanced to the men's 200 backstroke final as the fourth fastest qualifier in 1:56.35. Ken Takakuwa was fifth fastest in the men's 200 individual medley semis with a Japanese record of 1:58.49 butTakuro Fujii failed to advance.
American Aaron Piersol, the 100 and 200 backstroke Olympic champion, topped the field in 1:55.26. Ryan Lochte was fastest in the 200 individual medleyqualifiers in 1:57.69 and Michael Phelps second in 1:57.70.
Meanwhile, Japan will have two swimmers in the women's 200 breaststroke final for the first time after Megumi Taneda (2:25.42) and Rie Kaneto (2:25.65)qualified in seventh and eighth.
