Jun'ya Koga

Jun'ya Koga
Personal information
Surname:	Jun'ya Koga
Nation:	Japan
Swimming style (s) :	move
Birthday:	July 19, 1987
Place of birth:	Kumagaya
Size:	1.81 m
Medal table

Jun'ya Koga ( Japanese 古 賀 淳 也 , Koga Jun'ya ; born July 19, 1987 in Kumagaya ) is a Japanese swimmer . Specializing in the 50- and 100-meter back distance, the student from Waseda University achieved his greatest success to date at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome , where he was the first Asian swimmer to win the gold medal over the 100-meter distance.

Career

Jun'ya Koga first appeared internationally in 2003 as a 15-year-old at the Australian New South Wales state swimming championships , where he finished third in a time of 26.72 seconds over the non-Olympic 50 m back. In June 2004, the Japanese took part in his favorite discipline at the European sporting event Mare Nostrum and also took third place in Monte Carlo (26.68 s). At the beginning of January 2005, Koga caused a sensation with a victory at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii when he was able to beat the favorite Australian Andrew Lauterstein over the 100-meter back distance (56.33 s). Three months later, Koga took part in the Japanese championships, where he narrowly missed qualifying for the World Swimming Championships in Montréal as third over 50 m back . At the East Asian Games in Macau in early November of the same year , Koga took second place over 50 m back behind the four-year-old Chinese Ouyang Kunpeng and set a new university record with a time of 25.68 s. He also won the silver medal in the 50 m freestyle in a time of 23.16 seconds.

In mid-April 2006, Koga won the silver medal over 50 m back at the Japanese championships behind Tomomi Morita. At the beginning of December of the same year, the 19-year-old had his greatest sporting success to date when he defeated Ouyang Kunpeng in a time of 25.40 s at the Asian Games in Doha on the short back stretch. In 2007, Koga took part in the swimming world championships for the first time and took seventh place on his parade route (25.56 s) in Melbourne when South African Gerhard Zandberg won. A few days later, in a time of 25.52 s, he secured the Japanese championship title over 50 m back for the first time, while the Japanese had to admit defeat to the German Helge Meeuw by only a hundredth of a second at the Summer Universiade in early August . In the 50 m freestyle he did not get past 22nd place in the heats with a time of 23.34 s.

In mid-February 2008, Koga won the silver medal over 50 m backwards (24.21 s) at the Japanese short course championships and took part in the international Grand Prix meeting in Santa Clara , USA, in mid-May , where he was behind the Japanese medley relay Australian team finished second. A month later, Koga was able to defend his title over 50 m back at the Japanese championships in the national record time of 25.33 s. In contrast to Japanese teammates like Kōsuke Kitajima , who set several national records thanks to the new type of swim suit LZR-Racer from the Australian swimwear manufacturer Speedo , the back specialist wore a suit from the Japanese sports manufacturer Mizuno . However , he was denied a nomination for the Japanese contingent for the Summer Olympics in Beijing .

After increased training in winter and altitude training , Koga won the Japanese short course championships in mid-February 2009 over the short back distance (23.46 s). At the Japanese championships in mid-April, he improved the national record over the 100-meter back distance by almost seven tenths to 52.87 s and won the title, although, according to his own admission, he would never have thought a time of less than 53 seconds was possible. The success over the 100 meters made the 21-year-old speculate on a medal at the World Swimming Championships in Rome . A day later he also won the 50-meter course and improved the Japanese record to 24.45 s, just 0.12 seconds from the world record set by the American Randall Bal .

In an exhibition match in early May 2009 with the Australian team in Canberra , the Duel in the Pool , the Japanese lost his record over 100-meter back to his compatriot Ryosuke Irie (52.56 s), who gave him more than a second Relegation to second place (53.38 s). Also at the Japan Open a month later, Koga had to admit defeat to the two years younger opponent over the 100 meter distance. It was not until the Universiade in Belgrade in early July that the student from Waseda University succeeded in defeating Irie over the 50 meters. Also over the 100 meters back, Koga was the favorite in the semi-finals as the fastest (52.39 s), but took third place in the final behind the Spanish winners Aschwin Wildeboer and Irie in a time of 53.08 s (together with Briton Liam Tancock and the American Aaron Peirsol ). Two and a half weeks later, Koga achieved his greatest sporting success to date. At the World Swimming Championships in Rome, he was the first Asian swimmer to secure the title over the 100-meter back distance in the Japanese record time of 52.26 seconds ahead of the German Helge Meeuw and the Spaniard Wildeboer. Over 50 m back, Koga won World Championship silver behind Tancock from Britain.

In March 2018, Koga tested positive twice in doping tests. The muscle building substances LGD-4033 and SARM S-22 were detected. Koga was therefore excluded from the 2018 Asian Games and banned for four years.

Personal bests

route	time	date	place
50 m back	24.24 s *	August 2, 2009	Rome
100 m back	52.26 s *	July 28, 2009	Rome
200 m back	02: 02.56 min	May 17, 2008	Santa Clara
50 m freestyle	22.80 s	November 2, 2008	Singapore
100 m freestyle	49.65 s	May 9, 2009	Canberra
200 m freestyle	01: 57.75 min	June 23, 2005	Santa Clara

* = Japanese record

Web links

• Jun'ya Koga in the Swimrankings.net database (English)
• Profile at sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp (Japanese)
• Profile at tv-asahi.co.jp (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Herald News Services: Janes wins silver medal in 50-meter backstroke . In: Calgary Herald, Jan 24, 2003, p. F5
2. ↑ cf. Jeffery, Nicole: National talent pool reaches new depth . In: The Weekend Australian, January 8, 2005, p. 51
3. ↑ cf. Japanese swimming championships results . Xinhua General News Service, April 23, 2005, Saturday 8:00 AM EST, World News, Sports, Tokyo
4. ↑ cf. East Asia Games: Nakamura wins 2nd athletics crown . Japan Economic Newswire, Nov. 4, 2005, International News, Macau, Nov. 4
5. ↑ cf. Kitajima sets 200-meter breaststroke world record . Japan Economic Newswire, Jun 8, 2008 11:19 AM GMT, Sports News, Tokyo
6. ↑ cf. Koga, Takakuwa set records twice . Agence France-Presse , April 17, 2009 Friday 11:54 AM GMT, Hamamatsu
7. ↑ Doping: Japanese world champion Junya Koga tested positive
8. ↑ Doping: Olympic medalist suspended