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Kitajima sheds underdog suit

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-18 10:05

TOKYO: Japanese swim star Kosuke Kitajima relishes the role of the challenger, but he will have to adopt that of the favorite when he defends his 100m and 200 Olympic breaststroke titles in Beijing.

It was as a challenger that Kitajima won the double gold haul in Athens four years ago.

Only a month earlier, Brendan Hansen had broken Kitajima's world records in both distances to fire him up for revenge. The American had to settle for the silver in the 100m and the bronze in the 200m in Athens.

But the situation has changed ahead of the Beijing Games.

Japan's double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima swims the 200m breaststroke at the Japan Open in Tokyo in June. AFP

Kitajima slashed Hansen's 200m world record by 0.99 second to 2:07.51 at a domestic meet in June, two months before the Olympic opening ceremony, wearing Speedo's blockbuster LZR Racer swimsuit for the first time.

And, a month later, Hansen booked a 100m Olympic berth but foundered in the 200m at the US trials.

Hansen was also wearing the sensational new swimwear, bypassing his contract to rival maker Nike. But, visibly nervous, he could not come close to any world record by stalling in the last lap in both trials.

"He didn't seem to set down a marker and rise to the challenge just one month ahead of the (Olympic) showdown," Kitajima said of Hansen's performances. "I'll just do what I have to do now."

Hansen was run down in the 200m trial by his training partners Scott Spann and Eric Shanteau who claimed the first and second places needed to qualify for Beijing.

"It's going to be hard, but I'm going to show these guys what they need to do to beat him," said Hansen, apparently referring to Kitajima.

Kitajima, the 25-year-old son of a Tokyo butcher, still feels he is the one to make a challenge. He has not beaten Hansen head to head since 2005 while the American, who will turn 27 in August, kept lowering world marks.

"I feel like crying," Kitajima said when he broke Hansen's 200m mark. "I will go out fighting as if I am a challenger."

"I only have the gold medals on my mind. I won't come home if I don't get them," he said ahead of his third Olympics.

Kitajima finished fourth in the 100m at the 2000 Sydney Games, the best finish for Japanese male swimmers at that date.

His first world-class victory came at the 2002 Pan-Pacific championships when he won the 100m, followed by double gold medals at the 2002 Asian Games where he set his first world record of 2:09.97 in the 200m.

Kitajima lowered the mark in 2003. But Hansen rewrote it at the 2004 Olympic trials and then twice in 2006.

Hansen has also held the 100m world record since he broke Kitajima's mark in 2004 and lowered it to 59.13 in 2006.

At the World Championships last year, Hansen beat Kitajima into second spot in the 100m. But a viral infection forced the American to withdraw from the 200m won by Kitajima.

Relatively small at 177 centimeters (5.8 feet) and 72km (159 pounds), Kitajima is known for his efficient swimming style, compared to Hansen's powerful strokes.

After building up his muscles, Kitajima has expanded the length of his strokes by 1.5 times this year to match his big kicks, in what his coach Norimasa Hirai calls "four-wheel-drive swimming."

Kitajima's latest world record has prompted the Japanese Swimming Federation to allow Japanese swimmers to use the LZR in Beijing, despite its contract with domestic suppliers.

"It's me that swims," a bitter message in Japanese read on Kitajima's T-shirt before he broke down the time and contractual barriers - meaning it's not the bodysuit that races.

Agencies

(China Daily 07/18/2008 page11)