Tomomi Morita

nihongo|Tomomi Morita|森田 智己|Morita Tomomi|extra=born August 22, 1984 in Miyagi is a backstroke swimmer from Japan, who represented his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. There he won two bronze medals, in the 100 m backstroke and as a member of the 4x100 m medley relay team.

Dolphin Kick Incident

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Aaron Peirsol of the United States accused Kosuke Kitajima of using an illegal dolphin kick in his qualifying round of the 200 meter breaststroke. During the course of the men's 200 backstroke final, Peirsol was disqualified by a judge for allegedly using an illegal dolphin kick. The disqualification was later overturned as there were discrepancies in the judges handling of the incident. One of Peirsol's greatest rivals, Markus Rogan of Austria (who would finish second to Peirsol), was seen following the elimination recommending that Peirsol protest the disqualification on the grounds that it was unfair. In one of the finest acts of sportsmanship seen at the games, Rogan would go on to say that he would not have been able to accept the gold with the knowledge that Peirsol had been unfairly disqualified. Also suggesting that the judge was acting only out of anger for Peirsol's complaints against Morita.

References

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=MORITTOM01 databaseOlympics]
* [http://www.joc.or.jp/athens/athlete/swimming/moritatomomi.html Morita on JOC-site]