Kosuke Hagino will not compete at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
The 4-time Olympic medallist pulled out of the Japanese nationals in April and now he’ll miss the Worlds in July, a year before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“Kosuke Hagino will not be competing at the World Championships this year,†Hagino’s management agency communicated in an email.
The posterboy of Japanese swimming just can’t seem to get back into the right mental space and physical shape to recover his world-beating form.
He pulled out of the April 2019 Japan nationals citing a ‘loss of motivation‘.
The man who beat Michael Phelps at the 2014 Pan Pacs then won gold, silver and bronze medals at Rio 2016 is still only 24 years old.
But with Tokyo 2020 approaching fast, Hagino’s state of mind has become a national concern.
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