Kosuke Kitajima of Japan swims during the men's 200m breaststroke final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 14, 2008. Kitajima set a new Olympic record and won the gold medal in the event with 2 minutes 7.64 seconds. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

Kosuke Kitajima of Japan clocked in 2:07.64 to win the men's 200m breaststroke gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games on Thursday.

Kitajima, the Athens Olympic champion and world record holder, touched the wall first in 2:07.64. Australian Brenton Rickard got the silver in 2:08.88 and French Hugues Duboscq finished third in 2:08.94.

Kitajima secured himself a center lane by topping Wednesday's heats and led throughout to win his favorite race. He swam under the world record pace in the second and third legs, and finished about 0.13 seconds shy of his own world record, set in June at 2:07.51.

The 25-year-old Tokyo native had successfully defended his Olympic title in the 100-meter breaststroke by bettering rival Brendan Hansen's world record by 0.22 seconds at 58.91 seconds.