BEIJING — Fifteen minutes after repeating as a double gold medalist at the Water Cube on Thursday morning, these were the final words of breaststroke specialist Kosuke Kitajima: "Ashita oyasumi."
In other words, he'll have Friday off to rest.
The son of a Tokyo butcher, Kitajima slaughtered the competition on Thursday morning. He held the lead at the 50-meter mark with the fastest split of any competitor in the race (29.04 seconds) and zoomed through the water with magnificent efficiency and the methodicalness of a high-powered machine.