World records " Kosuke Kitajima " Olympic Beijing

Rank Countries/
Regions G S B Total

1 China 8 3 0 11
2 USA 3 4 5 12
3 South Korea 3 2 0 5
4 Australia 2 0 3 5
5 Japan 2 0 2 4

Japanese swim star Kosuke Kitajima relishes the role of challenger, but he will have to adopt that of favourite when he defends his 100m and 200m Olympic breaststroke titles in Beijing. Japanese swim star Kosuke Kitajima relishes the role of challenger, but he will have to adopt that of favourite when he defends his 100m and 200m Olympic breaststroke titles in Beijing.

Japan's Kosuke Kitajima broke the men's 100m breaststroke world record Monday, swimming a "perfect" race to win Olympic gold in 58.91sec.

Kitajima, defending the title he won in Athens four years ago, broke the previous record of 59.13 set by American Brendan Hansen at Irvine, California, on August 1, 2006.

Norway's Alexander Dale Oen took the silver in 59.20, four-hundredths slower than his leading semi-final time, and France's Hugues Duboscq claimed the bronze in 59.37.

4 (100m, 200m) - up to 08/06/2008

Olympic Games (3 medals: 2 gold, 1 bronze)

• 100m breaststroke: 1st (2004), 4th (2000)
• 200m breaststroke: 1st (2004)
• 4x100m medley relay: 3rd (2004)

World Championships (9 medals: 3 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze)

• 50m breaststroke: 3rd (2005)
• 100m breaststroke: 1st (2003), 2nd (2005, 2007)
• 200m breaststroke: 1st (2003, 2007), 3rd (2001)
• 4x100m medley relay: 2nd (2007), 3rd (2003)

World Championships short-course (2 medals: 1 silver, 1 bronze)

• 200m breaststroke: 3rd (2001)
• 100m breaststroke: 2nd (2002)

Asian Games (4 medals: 4 gold)

• 100m breaststroke: 1st (2002, 2006)
• 200m breaststroke: 1st (2002, 2006)