Kosuke Kitajima
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Kosuke Kitajima (北島康介: Kitajima Kōsuke, September 22, 1982, Tokyo) is a Japanese breaststroke swimmer. He has a height of 177 centimeters and a weight of 71 kilograms. He won gold medals for the Men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
There is a controversy about Kitajima's swimming style. On his breaststroke pull-out at every start and turn, some say that he moves his legs making a butterfly stroke-like movement, which was forbidden at the time of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Protests have been officially logged against him for this (as done by the United States' swimming delegation at the 2004 Olympic Games), but he has never been disqualified from an important competition for this. Perhaps due to the controversial incident at 2004 Olympics, FINA has changed the rule of breaststroke to allow one butterfly-like leg motion after the start and each turn since the 2005 World Championships.
His most significant rival on the breaststroke is the American swimmer Brendan Hansen. They dueled out 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 holds it with 2:09.04, along with a new world record in the 100 m.
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.
Major achievements
- Gold Medal
- * 100 m breaststroke – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.
- * 200 m breaststroke – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.
- * 100 m breaststroke – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
- * 200 m breaststroke – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
- Silver Medal
- * 100 m breaststroke – 2002 World Championships (short course) in Moscow, Russia.
- ''Bronze Medal
- * 100 m breaststroke – 2001 World Championships (long course) in Fukuoka, Japan.
- * 4×100 m Medley – 2003 World Championships (long course) in Barcelona, Spain.
- * 4×100 m Medley – 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Personal bests
In long course swim pools Kitajima's bests are:
- 100 m breaststroke: 59.78
- 200 m breaststroke: 2:09.92
External links
- http://www.frogtown.jp/ Kitajima Kosuke Official Website ]#redirect
| Olympic medalists in swimming (men) | Olympic Champions in Men's 100 m Breaststroke |
|---|
| 1968: Don McKenzie | 1972: Nobutaka Taguchi | 1976: John Hencken | 1980: Duncan Goodhew | 1984: Steve Lundquist | 1988: Adrian Moorhouse | 1992: Nelson Diebel | 1996: Frederik Deburghgraeve | 2000: Domenico Fioravanti | 2004: Kosuke Kitajima |
| Olympic medalists in swimming (men) | Olympic Champions in Men's 200 m Breaststroke |
|---|
| 1908: Cameron McKee | 1912: Walther Bathe | 1920: Håkan Malmroth | 1924: Robert Skelton | 1928: Yoshiyuki Tsuruta | 1932: Yoshiyuki Tsuruta | 1948: Joseph Verdeur | 1952: John Davies | 1956: Masaru Furukawa | 1960: Bill Mulliken | 1964: Ian O'Brien | 1968: Felipe Muñoz | 1972: John Hencken | 1976: David Wilkie | 1980: Roberts Zhulpa | 1984: Victor Davis | 1988: József Szabó | 1992: Mike Barrowman | 1996: Norbert Rózsa | 2000: Domenico Fioravanti | 2004: Kosuke Kitajima |
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