Yamamo to Regains Confidence after 100m Butterfly Victory

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, October 04, 2002

Yamamo to Regains Confidence after 100m Butterfly Victory

Japanese swimmer Takashi Yamamoto smiled with a long breath after he blitzed to win the men's 100 meters butterfly in the Asian Games in Busan on Thursday.

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Japanese swimmer Takashi Yamamoto smiled with a long breath after he blitzed to win the men's 100 meters butterfly in the Asian Games here on Thursday.

Yamamoto, who was stunned by Chinese young lad Wu Peng in the men's 200m butterfly two days ago, took a revenge by taking the 100m title in 52.59, a new game record.

"My confidence is back now, with the gold medal," said the two-time defending champion. "After the sudden loss to Wu, I was uncertain about myself and depressed for a while.

"It was my teammate Kosuke Kitajima's world record performance in the 200m breaststroke has boosted my fighting spirit. I told myself to beat myself first before beating others," said the 24-year-old.

Yamamoto, who finished third in the 200m butterfly in Pan Pacific Championships in August in Yokohama, Japan, but appeared in below-par form. When he learned that the surprised winner Wu would not compete in the 100m, he said "then I am a lucky guy".

"I did my best in PanPacs. But since then I have been in a low tide but I did not expect the loss to a 15-year-old Chinese young boy. This is an alarming call for me that the Chinese rivals are young and competitive," he said.

As Asian record holder in both 100m and 200m butterfly, Yamamoto said he has set a new goal of breaking the world record as Kitajima did yesterday.

"I have set my sight on the world mark. I have to work hard to reach my dream," he said.

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