Kosuke Kitajima

Kosuke Kitajima
Personal information
Full name Kosuke Kitajima
Nickname(s) Frog King
Nationality  Japan
Born (1982-09-22) September 22, 1982
Tokyo, Japan
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight 72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Breaststroke
In this Japanese name, the family name is Kitajima.

Kosuke Kitajima (北島 康介 Kitajima Kōsuke, born September 22, 1982 in Tokyo) is a Japanese retired multiple Olympic gold medalist breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals for the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke at both the Athens 2004, and the Beijing 2008[2] Summer Olympic games.

Major achievements

Kitajima is a decorated swimmer in the world championships and was the world record holder in the 100 m breaststroke that he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics – this mark was broken by Brenton Rickard. He was also bronze medal winner in the same Olympics in the 4×100 m medley relay. He edged out his main rival Brendan Hansen who finished fourth while Kitajima won the gold medal and set the new world record.

He received four gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals in total at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.[3]

His most significant rival in the breaststroke was the American swimmer Brendan Hansen. They dueled at events such as the 2005 World Championships, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2003 World Championships. Kitajima set both world records for 100 m and 200 m breaststroke in the latter occasion. Later his best in 200 m was overcome by Dimitri Komornikov and then by Hansen, who also broke Kitajima's record in the 100 m. Kitajima regained the world record (58.91) in the 100 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Kitajima regained the 200 m breaststroke world record in June 2008 at the Japan Open. His time of 2:07.51 shaved nearly a second off the previous record of 2:08.50 set by Hansen in 2006.[4]

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Kitajima generated buzz for his primal screams of exuberance after edging out Hansen in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke for the gold. At a pool side interview (3'24") following his victory in the 100 m, Kosuke Kitajima also popularised the phrase 'cho-kimochi-ii,' meaning "I feel really good." The word went on to win the 2004 U-Can Neologisms and Vogue Words contest.[5]

Kitajima retired in April 2016 after missing qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He was attempting to qualify for his fifth Olympics.[6]

Personal bests

In long course swimming pools Kitajima's bests are:

See also

References

  1. "Japanese Medalists in London 2012 Olympics". joc.or.jp. Japanese Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. Clarey, Christopher (August 13, 2008). "Kitajima Completes Breaststroke Double, Again". The New York Times.
  3. Odeven, Ed, "Kitajima eyes three-peat", Japan Times, 3 June 2012, p. 16
  4. "Kitajima supplants American Hansen's world breaststroke mark". Retrieved 2008-06-10.
  5. "2004 Annual Grand Prix". Archived from the original on 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  6. Lord, Craig (April 8, 2016). "Bye, Says King Frog Kosuke Kitajima, Four Games, Four Golds, Pantheon-Bound". Swimvortex. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
Records
Preceded by
Mike Barrowman
Men's 200 metre breaststroke
world record holder (long course)

October 2, 2002 – June 15, 2003
Succeeded by
Dimitri Komornikov
Preceded by
Dimitri Komornikov
Men's 200 metre breaststroke
world record holder (long course)

July 24, 2003 – July 11, 2004
Succeeded by
Brendan Hansen
Preceded by
Brendan Hansen
Men's 200 metre breaststroke
world record holder (long course)

June 8, 2008 – July 30, 2009
Succeeded by
Christian Sprenger
Preceded by
Brendan Hansen
Men's 100 metre breaststroke
world record holder (long course)

August 11, 2008 – July 27, 2009
Succeeded by
Brenton Rickard
Awards
Preceded by
Ian Thorpe
Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year
2003
Succeeded by
Ian Thorpe
Preceded by
Park Tae-Hwan
Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year
2007–2008
Succeeded by
Zhang Lin
Preceded by
Zhang Lin
Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year
2010
Succeeded by
Sun Yang
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