Japan's Shin Ohashi broke the men's 200m breaststroke world record at the Asian Games in Tokyo on Thursday, winning gold in 2 minutes 4.83 seconds. The 17-year-old claimed his second gold of the Games despite running a temperature of about 39C just days before the competition began.
Covid 'a good thing'
Ohashi said his illness had been a blessing in disguise after cutting more than half a second off the previous world record, held by China's Qin Haiyang, which had stood since July 2023. "With the Covid, it made me feel uneasy mentally," he said. "But on the other hand it meant I was forced to rest my body properly for a while. I think that was a good thing."
Stunning rise continues
The win continued his stunning rise in the sport and marked him out as the man to beat at the Los Angeles Olympics in two years' time. Ohashi had already won the 100m breaststroke gold this week in Tokyo after a dead heat with China's Dong Zhihao. He will try to make it a hat-trick when he swims in Friday's 50m breaststroke.
Ohashi took control from the off in the 200m final and from then it was a race against the clock. He finished 3.84 seconds faster than the silver medallist Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan.
Olympic ambitions
"My next goal is to win gold at next year's world championships and then go on to win gold at the Olympics," said Ohashi. "I don't want to be satisfied and I want to feel these emotions again."
Ohashi's success has seen him tipped to follow in the footsteps of the Japanese breaststroke great Kosuke Kitajima. The "Frog King" won the 100m-200m double at the 2004 Athens Olympics and repeated the feat four years later in Beijing.
Ohashi said he was "watching all the other swimmers and trying to learn from them". He continued: "I don't really have any heroes, I think all swimmers are fantastic. But in terms of achievements, Kitajima is the one I would like to emulate most."
