Kitajima looking at Rio Olympics
Japan's four-time Olympic swimming champion Kosuke Kitajima, who
missed out on an individual medal at the London Games, says he is keen
to line up at the poolside in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
"While younger swimmers are coming up, I want to go to Rio, too,"
Kitajima, 30, told a party held in Tokyo on Thursday in honour of
Japanese swimmers who collected a record 11 medals in London, according
to local media. Kitajima, who took gold in the 100m and 200m
breaststroke at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics, finished
fifth in the 100m and fourth in the 200m in London but bagged a silver
as a member of Japan's 4x100m medley relay. In London, Japan got three
silvers and eight bronzes but no gold in swimming.
After Kitajima's failure, 18-year-old Akihiro Yamaguchi set a new
200m breaststroke world record on September 15, vowing to become his
successor.
At Japan's national games, the high school student clocked two
minutes 07.01 seconds, breaking the previous world mark of 2:07.28 set
by Daniel Gyurta of Hungary on August 1 at the London Olympics.
AFP |