One decade after first medal, Murofushi claims gold

Daegu, Korea – While some athletes claim to be students of the game, Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi actually holds a doctorate degree. He and his coach certainly came up with a winning formula to earn his first World gold medal on Monday night.

Following a painstakingly planned program leading up to the IAAF World Championships, Murofushi peaked at just the right time – including his lone throw in the qualifying round, he had seasonal bests on four consecutive throws.

In the final, Murofushi matched his third throw of 81.24m with his fifth attempt, and when that mark held up when Hungary's Krisztian Pars uncorked a throw of 81.18m on his last attempt, he had his elusive gold medal.

"Of course I was trying to peak for this meet and I'm so happy to make it happen," said Murofushi, who completed a collection of each World medal, adding to the silver he won in 2001 and bronze from 2003. "I'm so happy we had a good competition."

Murofushi's victory, at 36 years 325 days, made him the oldest World hammer champion in history, surpassing the legendary Yuriy Sedekh, who was 36 years 75 days when he triumphed in Tokyo in 1991.

As impressive as the string of seasonal bests might sound, Murofushi himself noted he had only competed twice this season before coming to Daegu.

He opened the season in May by finishing second to Pars at the Golden Grand Prix in Kawasaki, outside of Tokyo, with a 78.10m effort. The next month, he extended his own record of national titles to 17 straight with a winning toss of 77.01m. (His father had held the previous record of 12 consecutive crowns.)

Murofushi, who has recovered from back problems that plagued him after winning the 2004 Olympic gold in Athens, chalks up his longevity to his relationship with Swedish coach Tore Gustafsson.

Gustafsson joined the Murofushi team five years ago, basically taking over the coaching duties from Murofushi's father Shigenobu, a former Asian hammer champion and Olympian himself who was dubbed "The Ironman of Asia."

"We've been working for five years," Murofushi said of Gustafsson. "I don't want to bring up age, but when you get older, it's hard to keep your body in condition.

"So besides the training, I always have to do recovery [such as] massage. So he's one of my supporters. He was also a hammer thrower, so he knows how to look at technique. As a therapist he's a great person."

Gustafsson marvels at Murofushi's discipline and drive to succeed.

"He's a perfectionist," Gustafsson said. "I think it comes from his father's side. He's spent a long time training with his father and he passed everything onto his son. It's very Japanese in many ways.