As a nation, Japan collected a record 37 medals at the 2004 Summer Games, including 16 golds, which matched the nation's all-time record set at the 1964 Tokyo Games. And so it's only natural for people to be curious if Japan can duplicate that level of success or achieve a higher medal count at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Several thousand athletes will compete in Beijing, but keeping track of all of them will be an impossible task
So here's a brief primer on Japan's top medal hopefuls: Kosuke Kitajima — men's swimming. The 25-year-old Tokyo resident won a pair of gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games, finishing first in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke race. He is stronger, quicker and a smarter swimmer than when he grabbed the spotlight four years ago.