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Asian swimming stars take center stage today
Xinhua/chinadaily.com.cn
Updated: 2008-08-14 14:10
Kosuke Kitajima of Japan holds up his gold medal after winning the men's 200 meters breaststroke swimming final at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 14, 2008. Kitajima became the first swimmer to claim both the 100 and 200 gold medals at consecutive games. [Agencies] |
The 25-year-old, who won the 100m breaststroke on Monday in world-record time, cruised to victory in the 200m in an Olympic record 2:07.64, just outside the world record of 2:07.51 he set in Tokyo in June.
He is the first man to sweep the breaststroke gold medals at two straight Olympics.
"I was not thinking about winning two gold medals at two consecutive Olympics," he said. "That was never my goal. I was just focused on doing my best in Beijing."
Also in swimming, France's Alain Bernard took gold in the men's 100m freestyle in 47.21, just 0.11 seconds ahead of Eamon Sullivan of Australia. Both men had set world records in the semifinals.
The Americans' perfect record in the women's 800-meter relay ended when Australia took the gold medal in a world-record 7:44.31. The US, which has won every gold medal since the event was introduced in 1996, finished third behind China. The US also held the previous record of 7:50.09 set at last year's world championships.
Seventeen more gold medals are scheduled Thursday, in which Michael Phelps doesn't go for a medal.
Phelps, who is seeking to break Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in one Games, set in 1972, has won five gold medals at the Games and 11 overall.