| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Koji Murofushi at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics |
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| Competitor for Japan | ||
| Men's athletics | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Hammer |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2011 Daegu | Hammer |
| Silver | 2001 Edmonton | Hammer |
| Bronze | 2003 Paris | Hammer |
| Asian Games | ||
| Gold | 1998 Bangkok | Hammer |
| Gold | 2002 Busan | Hammer |
| Silver | 1994 Hiroshima | Hammer |
Koji Alexander Murofushi (室伏 アレクサンダー 広治 Murofushi Arekusandā Kōji, born October 8, 1974, in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture) is a Japanese hammer thrower. He has been among the world elite since the 2001 World Championships, where he won the silver medal. He was olympic champion during the Athens Olympics. In 2011, He was crowned world champion.
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Before the 2001 World Championships he had made his mark in Asian athletics. He started with a bronze medal at the 1993 East Asian Games. At the Asian Championships he won silver medals in 1993, 1995. He won the silver medal at the 1994 Asian Games and then took his first title 1997 East Asian Games. A silver medal at the 1998 Asian Championship was followed by a gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games.[1][2] In global events, he finished eighth at the 1992 World Junior Championships, tenth at the 1997 World Championships and ninth at the 2000 Olympic Games.
He scored gold medals at the both the 2001 Goodwill Games and the 2001 East Asian Games – setting a Games record at the latter event. After the 2001 World Championships, he proceeded by winning the 2002 Asian Championships and Asian Games as well as a silver medal at the 2002 World Cup and a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships. That year he threw 84.86 metres, which was the longest hammer throw in over ten years, putting Murofushi fifth on the all-time performer's list. Among the favorites at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he eventually won the gold medal after the disqualification of Adrián Annus, and in 2004 gained a doctorate in physical education from the Chyukyo University in Nagoya.
In July 2006 he won the World Athletics Final and the World Cup. He finished sixth at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, third at the 2007 World Athletics Final, and fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games. Two medalists, Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan, were first disqualified for failing the doping test,[3] but won the appeal and had their medals reinstated.[4]
At the 2009 Japanese Championships, Murofushi retained his national title, winning his fifteenth consecutive championships at the event.[5] He increased his title total again the following year.[6]
He made a world-leading throw of 80.99 m at the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix meeting which ranked him first place in the inaugural IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.[7] He remained ahead of second-placed Dilshod Nazarov at the end of the series, winning with a score of 238.52 (the combined total of his three best throws on the circuit).[8]
In July 2011, Olympic news outlet Around the Rings reported that the Japanese Olympic Committee nominated Murofushi for the IOC's Athletes Commission. Elections will take place during the Olympics. The commission represents the athletes' views at the IOC.
Koji Murofushi comes from a hammer throwing family, as his father Shigenobu Murofushi is a former Olympian and held the Japanese record for 23 years until his son broke it, and his sister, Yuka Murofushi, throws both hammer and discus. Murofushi's Romanian-born mother, Serafina Moritz, was a javelin thrower for Romania, European Junior champion in 1968, and Romanian senior champion in 1970.[9][10][11] She is now a glass painter, and lives in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.[12]
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