Kosuke Kitajima failed to secure a trip to his fifth successive Olympics after not meeting the qualifying standard in the men's 100-meter breaststroke final at the national championships on Tuesday.
The former two-time double Olympic champion was runner-up to Yasuhiro Koseki in 59.93 seconds, but fell three-tenths of a second short.
Koseki (59.66) missed out by 0.03, and both he and the 33-year-old Kitajima were stunned after the race, as was the crowd at Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center which went dead silent once the two touched the wall.