Japanese breaststroke king Kosuke Kitajima won the 200m gold at the Beijing Games Thursday, completing the Olympic double for the second consecutive Games.
Kitajima, who won the 100m breaststroke on Monday in world-record time, repeated the double breaststroke gold he claimed in Athens four years ago.
‘It's my life,’ he said of swimming and the Games.
Kitajima won in 2:07.64, just outside the world record of 2:07.51 he set in Tokyo in June.
He held off a late challenge from Australian Brenton Rickard, who was second in 2:08.88, with France's Hugues Duboscq taking the bronze in 2:08.94.
‘I'm very relieved that I got the gold medal,’ Kitajima said.
The 25-year-old, who is the only swimmer to break 2:08 in the event, wasn't too disappointed to miss out on a new record.
‘I was going OK until the last 50 metres, and then I ran low on energy, but it was a good swim and I am pleased with the time,’ he said.
Rickard and Duboscq joined a small group who have broken 2:09 in the event.
Prior to Beijing only Kitajima and former world record-holder Brendan Hansen had done it, although Daniel Gyurta of Hungary, Mike Brown of Canada and Paolo Bossini of Italy had done it in reaching the final here.
‘It was a pretty special thing to do, I have joined a select group,’ Rickard said. ‘I guess the most important thing is that I did it in the final, when it mattered most.
‘To get the silver medal is just great,’ the Aussie added.
