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, where he is now an associate professor in the Faculty of Sports Science.
•
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.
Koji Murofushi won the Gold Medal at 2011 World Championships in Daegu Korea and Bronze Medal at the 2012 London Olympics with Gustafsson as his Coach.
Kōji Wakamatsu | Koji Murofushi | Shigenobu Murofushi | Koji Suzuki | Andrew Koji Shiraki | Kōji Tamaki | Kōji Suzuki |
Nicola Vizzoni, Igor Sokolov, Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, Szymon Ziółkowski, Koji Murofushi, and Libor Charfreitag were all predicted to have an outside chance of a medal.
In spite of this he remained positive about the experience and fellow throwers Tore Gustafsson and Koji Murofushi offered him encouragement and technical advice.
Murofushi comes from a hammer throwing family, as her father Shigenobu Murofushi is a former Olympian and held the Japanese record for decades, and her brother Koji Murofushi, is the 2004 Olympic champion in the event.