INCHEON, South Korea, Sept 22 (AFP): Japan's Kosuke Hagino followed a shock 200 metres freestyle gold by adding his signature 200m individual medley and the 4x200m freestyle relay title at the Asian Games on Monday as signs of Chinese frustration began to show.
Hagino's heroics helped Japan finish the second day of the swimming competition in Incheon leading powerhouse China 7-5 in gold medals, prompting a furious rant from a senior Chinese swim official.
As Hagino got up to leave the press conference, Lu Yifan told him to sit down, snapping: "Japan might be leading now but we've only had two days. Yes, Japan are a powerful team but we will catch up very soon."
After stunning heavyweights Sun Yang and Park Tae-Hwan on the opening day of swimming, Hagino pulverised the opposition to win the 200m medley in an Asian record of one minute, 55.34 seconds.
Hagino, 20, who scored a pulsating victory over Michael Phelps at last month's Pan Pacific championships, won by more than three seconds from team-mate Hiromasa Fujimori at the aquatics arena named after South Korean star Park.
Japan swim king Hagino completes golden treble
FE Team | Published: September 23, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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