{"id":424610,"date":"2020-03-26T06:06:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T13:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=424610"},"modified":"2020-03-26T11:32:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T18:32:02","slug":"kosuke-kitajima-swimmers-need-to-start-writing-the-next-chapter-following-tokyo-2020-postponement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/kosuke-kitajima-swimmers-need-to-start-writing-the-next-chapter-following-tokyo-2020-postponement\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosuke Kitajima: Swimmers Must Start Writing The Next Chapter After Tokyo 2020 Postponement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four-time Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima<\/strong> \u2013 the only man in history to have won back-to-back breaststroke titles \u2013 believes athletes must prepare for every eventuality and overcome every hurdle in the light of the postponement of Tokyo 2020.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to Swimming World<\/em>, Kitajima looked back at his own career and experience to try to help the current generation reset for a delayed Olympics. He said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tried to turn everything into a positive thing and that was how I was able to overcome all the obstacles that faced me.\u00a0We don\u2019t know whether these people who believe that they could have been peaking in summer (2020) really could have done that well.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they can perform just as well a few months or a year down the line…<\/p>\n

\u201cWere there really other athletes who feel that if they had one more year they could potentially beat Adam Peaty?\u00a0<\/strong>We don\u2019t really know but in any case we just want them to have their best performance.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have a chance any more just because the Olympics are postponed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Olympics is so important for you, you should be able to work really hard and imagine that you can achieve great things even if it is a year from now.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Japanese ace \u2013 known in his heyday as the \u2018Frog King\u2019<\/strong> – won the 100 and 200m breaststroke at Athens 2004 before a successful defence four years later in Beijing saw him write his own entry in the record books. He was only the second swimmer in history – and remains so – to claim the 100 and 200m Olympic titles in the same stroke at successive Games, the first having been Roland Matthes, on backstroke in 1968 and 1972<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

That record of being the only male breaststroker to have retained an Olympic title – and the sole swimmer, man or woman, to have defended the 100m gold –\u00a0will now stand for another year at least after the Games were moved to 2021 as the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to take its deathly toll across the world.<\/p>\n

\"Kosuke

The ‘Frog King’ Kosuke Kitajima Photo Courtesy: Patrick B. Kraemer<\/p><\/div>\n

Adam Peaty<\/strong> was an overwhelming favourite in the 100m and had already gone 58.13<\/a> \u2013 a time only has he ever bettered in history – at the Edinburgh International<\/strong> less than a fortnight ago but in reality a lifetime away.<\/p>\n

That overtook Arno Kamminga<\/strong> and his 58.43 from the Antwerp Diamond Cup<\/strong><\/a> earlier this month as the Netherlands swimmer went third all-time.<\/p>\n

The 200m promised to be one of the races of the Olympics with several contenders jostling for top spot on the podium occupied four years ago by Dmitriy Balandin<\/strong> \u2013 among them world-record holder Anton Chupkov<\/strong>, Kamminga, Andrew Wilson<\/strong> of Australia and Japanese trio Shoma Sato<\/strong>, Ippei Watanabe and Yasuhiro Koseki.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now that has been put on hold until 2021 but Kitatjima believes the athletes must reset and adjust, even those for whom it was their final year of competition.<\/p>\n

\"kosukekitajimalandscape\"

Kosuke Kitajima – Photo Courtesy: Craig Lord<\/p><\/div>\n

Through a translator, Kitajima told Swimming World<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin my Olympic career obviously it wasn\u2019t like I was consistently doing well: there were years when I was injured or I couldn\u2019t emotionally or mentally face things.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr I was ill so it wasn\u2019t all happy happy all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the fact that I was able to really adjust my performance every four years \u2013 that is partly luck – but I was also highly motivated about it. Maybe it was something to do with how old I was as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these conditions were there to lead me to success at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also had to face athletes towards the end of my career who were really nipping at my heels.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Time to prepare for what lies ahead with the landscape having changed rather than having been taken away.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He continued:<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought my only job was to always really do my best and really focus on the race at hand \u2013 whether it was the Pan Pacs, the World Championships or the Olympics. That was my only thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tried to turn everything into a positive thing and that was how I was able to overcome all the obstacles that faced me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know whether these people who believe that they could have been peaking in summer (2020) really could have done that well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll never really know how their performance would have been although they believe that it was.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they can perform just as well a few months or a year down the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a sport where we are dealing with making records and good times, there are times when that time or your record will go down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWere there really other athletes who feel that if they had one more year they could potentially beat Adam Peaty?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really know but in any case we just want them to have their best performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have a chance any more just because the Olympics are postponed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Olympics is so important for you, you should be able to work really hard and imagine that you can achieve great things even if it is a year from now.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Daiya

Daiya Seto: Photo Courtesy: PATRICK B. KRAEMER<\/p><\/div>\n

A home Games is an enormous opportunity for host nation athletes to raise their profile, become national heroes and to enjoy commercial success.<\/p>\n

Daiya Seto<\/strong> had been in scorching form for months after winning the 200 and 400IM at last year\u2019s World Championships<\/strong> in Gwangju, South Korea, plus 200 fly silver.<\/p>\n

He played a big part in Energy Standard winning the grand finale<\/a> of the inaugural International Swimming League<\/strong> with a 400IM world short-course record in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old\u2019s performances so far in 2020 in the 200 IM (1:55.55), 400 IM (4:06.09) and 200 fly (1:52.53) hinted at a thrilling year to come.<\/p>\n

So too Ryosuke Irie,<\/strong> whose performances in the 100 and 200 back indicated a challenge for his first Olympic gold after silver and bronze in the individual races at London 2012.<\/p>\n

World silver medallist Katsuhiro Matsumoto<\/strong> promised much in the 200 free (1:45.82) and there was also the prospect of Rio 2016 400IM champion Kosuke Hagino<\/strong> returning to centre stage after regaining the motivation he had lost.<\/p>\n

\"rikako-ikee-\"

Rikako Ikee: Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

Yui Ohashi<\/strong> \u2013 who won 400IM bronze in Gwangju and is double 2018 IM Pan Pacs champion \u2013 and triple 2018 Asian Games medallist and backstroke specialist Natsumi Sakai<\/strong> would also be among those who commanded the home spotlight, their names writ large.<\/p>\n

Another young woman who will have a strong presence in Tokyo come the Games will be Rikako Ikee,<\/strong> regardless of whether she is in the pool, on poolside or in the stands following her treatment for leukemia.<\/p>\n

The Japanese nationals had only just been cancelled when Swimming World spoke to Kitajima, the day after the Olympics were delayed.<\/p>\n

Of the psychological effects on the home swimmers, Kitajima believed that with clarity comes the opportunity to look forward and start to write the \u201cnext chapter of their story\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are those swimmers who were completely ready and prepared to tackle the qualifiers next week and head into the summer with a lot of confidence.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I am sure there were a lot of those who were not yet prepared\u2026\u2026and have said that an extension would help their chances of getting on the team.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo everyone has a different perspective on this but the important thing is that they were able to announce this on Tuesday.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that announcement was made it is up to the swimmers to create the next chapter of their story which is prepare for the Olympics \u2013 not in the summer but later on.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also hope to find some way we can tackle this virus so we can once again come together to really celebrate sports.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"kosukekitajima\"

Kosuke Kitajima – Photo Courtesy: Craig Lord<\/p><\/div>\n

The 37-year-old had been due to fly to Spain to observe the high-altitude camp in Sierra Nevada from which Hagino and Ohashi had hastily retreated.<\/p>\n

Many will be affected be they athletes, business large and small, the residents of Tokyo but Kitajima fully endorsed the decision to postpone Tokyo 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about the situation we are in and the virus and the world situation we really need to prioritise that first in tackling the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I obviously know first-hand the importance and relevance of holding the Olympics every four years and the value in that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also know the effort that has been made and the effort by the athletes themselves to prepare for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s unfortunate but this decision was not the wrong one to make.<\/p>\n

“We need to make the next goal a goal in which people around the world will be happy to come to Japan and witness this incredible event that could not have not happened if the decision was actual cancellation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Life it seems goes on pretty much as normal in the Japanese capital despite it having been increasingly unlikely in recent weeks that the Games could go ahead before the decision came.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my opinion but in recent weeks it was becoming increasingly clear that holding the Olympics in Tokyo in the summer was going to be very, very difficult or impossible.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time I am still a little bit sceptical as to whether people in Tokyo really understand about this virus \u2013 especially in light of globally what is happening overseas and the trend there. I understand when people say it\u2019s not time right now for sport.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJust now the Tokyo government made a press conference urging the citizens to stay home over the weekend and continue to try and work from home.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it is something we ourselves are not familiar with, we don\u2019t know people who have contracted the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt still feels like something far off to us. In other words, we are not feeling the real urgency or the desperation ahead.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four-time Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima \u2013 the only man in history to have won back-to-back breaststroke titles \u2013 believes athletes must prepare for every eventuality and overcome every hurdle in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7575,"featured_media":239793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[67819,34385,26806,25466,40480,40554,121233,107529,120856,121252,25003,43035,72128,71150,31427,68671,25002,5917,61001,42742,42777,35608,89120,58477,61619],"class_list":["post-424610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world","tag-2019-world-championships","tag-2020-tokyo-olympic-games","tag-adam-peaty","tag-andrew-wilson","tag-anton-chupkov","tag-arno-kamminga","tag-athens-2004","tag-beijing-2008","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-daiya-seto","tag-dmitriy-balandin","tag-energy-standard","tag-international-swimming-league","tag-ippei-watanabe","tag-katsuhiro-matsumoto","tag-kosuke-hagino","tag-kosuke-kitajima","tag-london-2012","tag-natsumi-sakai","tag-rikako-ikee","tag-ryosuke-irie","tag-shoma-sato","tag-tokyo-2020","tag-yui-ohashi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nKosuke Kitajima: Swimmers Must Start Writing The Next Chapter After Tokyo 2020 Postponement - 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