LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) – Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima flirted
with disappointment but stayed on course for the chance to
become the first male swimmer to win the same event at three
Olympics when he booked his place on Saturday in the final of
the 100 metres breaststroke.
Kitajima, who won the breaststroke double at Athens in 2004
and Beijing four years later, qualified sixth fastest overall
when he finished fourth in his semi-final in a time of 59.69
seconds.
South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh set the fastest time of
58.83, just ahead of Italy’s Fabio Scozzoli and Australia’s
Brenton Rickard.
The 29-year-old Kitajima was aided by the slower pace in the
second semi-final, with only the top two finishers in that race
swimming fast enough to make the final.
Kitajima and Michael Phelps are locked in a race to become
the first man to complete a three-peat but with Phelps failing
to get on the podium in Saturday’s 400 individual medley final,
Kitajima has the chance to do it in Sunday’s breaststroke final.
The event, however, was tinged with sadness because of the
death of world champion Alexander Dale Oen in April.
Norway’s Dale Oen, who won the world title in Shanghai last
year three days after a bombing and shooting attack in Oslo that
killed 77 people, had been at a training camp in Arizona when he
collapsed and died.
A medical examiner ruled the 26-year-old had died of severe
coronary artery disease and his compatriot Sara Nordenstam said
his absence was felt in their team and at the pool.
(Reporting by Julian Linden; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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