Olympics: Japan's breaststroke king Kitajima wins 200m gold

Thursday, 14 August 2008

BEIJING - Japanese breaststroke king Kosuke Kitajima won the 200m gold at the Beijing Games Thursday, completing the Olympic double for the second Games in a row.

Kitajima, who won the 100m breaststroke on Monday in world-record time,
repeated the double breaststroke gold he claimed in Athens four years ago.

Kitajima won in 2:07.64, just outside the world record of 2:07.51 he set in Tokyo in June.

The 25-year-old is the only swimmer to break 2:08 in the event.

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.