| Rank | Event | Year | Location | Result |
| Olympic Games | ||||
| 1 | Hammer Throw | 2004 | Athens, GRE | 82.91 |
| 5 | Hammer Throw | 2008 | Beijing, CHN | 80.71 |
| 9 | Hammer Throw | 2000 | Sydney, NSW, AUS | 76.60 |
| World Championships | ||||
| 1 | Hammer Throw | 2011 | Daegu, KOR | 81.24 |
| 2 | Hammer Throw | 2001 | Edmonton, AB, CAN | 82.92 |
| 3 | Hammer Throw | 2003 | Paris, FRA | 80.12 |
| World Challenge | ||||
| 1 | Hammer Throw | 2010 | Zagreb, CRO | 79.21 |
| 1 | Hammer Throw | 2010 | Rieti, ITA | 80.96 |
| 2 | Hammer Throw | 2011 | Kawasaki, JPN | 78.10 |
| 3 | Hammer Throw | 2010 | Osaka, JPN | 77.86 |
Occupation
Academic, Athlete
Education
Physical Education - Chukyo University, Nagoya, JPN
Language(s) spoken
Japanese
Club name
Mizuno Track Club, Japan
Other sports
His father, Shigenobu Murofushi, was known as the 'Iron Man of Asia' when he won five consecutive Asian Games hammer throw gold medals between 1970 and 1986, having initially won silver at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. He also held Japan's national record from 1971 until his son broke it in 1998. His mother was a javelin thrower from Romania and his sister, Yuka Murofushi, has won gold medals in both the hammer and discus events at the Japan national championships and competes internationally for Japan. (Time Asia, 14 Jun 2004; IAAF, 25 Aug 2003)
Injuries
He withdrew from the 2008 Japan Grand Prix in Osaka because of a back strain. (AP, 26 Apr 2008)
He injured his right calf and was forced to withdraw from the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. (Yomiuri, 18 Jul 2007)
A muscle injury to his left side stopped him taking part in the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. (Sports Navi, 18 Jul 2007)
Additional information
Start of sporting career
He first learned the hammer technique at the age of 10 and started taking it seriously at the age of 15. (Time Asia, 14 Jun 2004)
Reason for taking up this sport
He wanted to be number one at something. (Time Asia, 14 Jun 2004)
Most influential person in career
His father. (Tokyo Broadcasting System, 18 Jul 2007)
Superstitions / Rituals
He always drinks a cup of coffee before competition. (Japan Olympic Committee, 18 Jul 2007)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"The hammer throw may seem like a simple sport involving only muscle work, but it's actually very profound. It requires you to hurl a 16-pound [7.2kg] object as far as you can by spinning inside a circle and using the centrifugal force generated. You can't throw the hammer over a long distance just by training physically. There's a knack to it, and without it you can't compete at the top level." (Aichi Voice, 1999)
Awards
Received the Smile of the Year Award from the Japan Dental Association for 2006. (jda.or.jp, 06 May 2008)
Named Japanese Athlete of the Year for 2001. (IAAF, 26 Mar 2002)
General
STUDY
He delayed the start of his 2007 competition calendar by one month because he was working on a doctoral thesis. The thesis, titled 'Development of a System to Measure Radius of Curvature and Speed of Hammer Head during Turns in Hammer Throw', was a study into the bio-mechanics of hammer throwing. He received his PhD in June 2007. (Nikkan sports, 18 Jul 2007, IHT, 30 Aug 2007)
2004 OLYMPIC GAMES
He was belatedly awarded the hammer gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, after the initial gold medal winner, Hungary's Adrian Annus, was stripped of the title for failing to attend compulsory drug tests after the event. (BBC Sport, 29 Aug 2004)
UNORTHODOX TECHNIQUE
He is relatively small for a hammer thrower but has worked on an unorthodox technique to make up for it. As he begins his wind-up spins, he leans back with each turn, extending the radius between the axis of his spin and the head of the hammer. With the centrifugal force he can get extra speed on the hammer, compensating for his reduced body mass. The style is virtually impossible for larger opponents to emulate and helped his father become one of Asia's few world class throwers. (Time Asia, 14 Jun 2004)
EARLY DAYS
When he was 10 years old, his famous father Shigenobu decided to teach him the tricky footwork required for the hammer throw. "He learned all the basic foot movements in three days," Shigenobu said. "He has an amazing ability to absorb information." By the age of 15, he decided to dedicate himself to the sport and attended a high school in Narita renowned for its athletics programme. His father made the four-hour trip once a month to help him train. (Time Asia, 14 Jun 2004)
Previous Olympics
Beijing 2008, Athens 2004, Sydney 2000
