Japan made history on Thursday winning three medals in one day at the World Swimming Champion-ships, including a gold that came with a world record from Kosuke Kitajima in the men's 200m breaststroke.
"This is a historic day for Japanese swimming," said team manager Tsuyoshi Aoki.
The Japanese team, through five of eight days of swimming, has two golds, one silver and two bronze.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In the emotion, Kitajima's coach Norimasa Hirai whipped up dozens of Japanese reporters to begin the victory chant of "Banzai! Banzai!" after the race.
Besides Kitajima's gold, Japan also took bronze in the 200m butterfly from Yuko Nakanishi and bronze in the 50m backstroke with Noriko Inada.
But Kitajima was the hero.
This was his second gold of the championships and his second world record to boot.
"I'm really happy to break two world records and win two golds. That was my goal," said the 21-year-old from Tokyo. "I knew I could win as soon as I stepped onto the starting block."
On Monday, Kitajima smashed the world record for the men's 100m breaststroke, hitting 59.78 seconds to break the previous record of 59.94 held by Russia's Roman Sloudnov.
He then warned: "I'm hoping to get a record of 2 minutes, 8 seconds." in the 200m.
On Thursday he clocked 2:09.42 seconds. He had held the record earlier this year until Dmitri Komornikov of Russia broke it with 2:09.52 on June 14 -- also in Barcelona.
"When Korminikov did that it really motivated me," said Kitajima. "I want to improve further to win the next Olympics in both events. Next year is the real contest."
Japan has a history of producing fine breaststroke swimmers, principally because it is a discipline which relies heavily on technique rather than stature and physique, analysts say.
It last won an Olympic men's swim gold in the 1972 Olympics with Nobutaka Taguchi. It won a women's gold in the 200m breaststroke in 1992, also in Barcelona, with Kyoko Iwasaki.
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never