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Kitajima: Wins again
"I was not thinking about winning two gold medals at two consecutive Olympics. That was never my goal. I was just focused on doing my best in Beijing." Kosuke Kitajima
Men's 200m breaststroke:
Gold: Kosuke Kitajima (Jpn) 2:7.64 (OR)
SIlver: Brenton Rickard (Aus) 2:08.88
Bronze: Hugues Duboscq (Fra) 2:08.94
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Japan's Kosuke Kitajima has claimed his second gold of the Olympics after his triumph in the 200metres backstroke final at the Water Cube in Beijing.
The 25-year-old, who won the 100m gold earlier in the week, has now successfully defended the two titles he claimed in Athens four years ago.
Kitajima touched the wall in 2 minutes 07.64 seconds to set a new Olympic record and only just missed out on breaking his own world record, set in June, by 0.13 secs.
It is only the fifth time a swimmer has won gold in successive Olympics, with Kitajima joining an elite group that also contains 11-time gold medal winner Michael Phelps.
"I was not thinking about winning two gold medals at two consecutive Olympics," Kitajima said. "That was never my goal. I was just focused on doing my best in Beijing."
The Tokyo-born swimmer also becomes the first person to win gold in the two distances, with Australia's Brenton Rickard clinching silver and Frenchman Hughes Duboscq taking bronze.
