Phelps was not finished there, however, and went on to help the United States to a fourth successive victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay, alongside Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Townley Haas.
Advertisement
That split-second decision got him to the wall ahead of everyone else, by a mere four-hundredths of a second.
Tamas Kenderesi of Hungary was third and le Clos finished fourth with a time of 1:54.06.
Ledecky scooped her second gold of the Games after holding off a fearless charge from Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom in the women’s 200m freestyle.
It was then over to the 4x200m freestyle relay and a visibly exhausted Phelps somehow managed to close out a fine win for the US quartet with Great Britain claiming the silver. He holds the world and Olympic records in the event.
The 27-year-old, who set an Olympic record of two minutes, 6.58 seconds, had already won the 400 individual medley on Saturday and 100 backstroke on Monday. The opportunity is there for any swimmer to win numerous medals because of all the events involved that doesn’t necessarily exist in other sports, but Phelps ranks right there along with sprinter Usain Bolt as the greatest Olympic competitors in modern history.
It was the most challenging individual race to win for Ledecky, who is expected to win the 800 free event later this week.
The U.S. men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team has reined supreme, capturing gold medals at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Just shy of midnight in Brazil, he anchored the men’s 4×200 freestyle to another gold medal.
“Nothing”, he said. “I was trying not to even look at him”.
“I don’t want him to win and I’m sure he doesn’t want me to win”, said Phelps.
With his fiancé Nicole bouncing baby Boomer in her arms in the stands, Phelps added his 20th Olympic gold medal to his collection (and 24th overall).
Advertisement
“That was a really tough race and it hurt really badly”, said Ledecky. “It’s the closest I’ve come to throwing up at the end of a race”, – Ledecky’s latest triumph did not come easily. “I’m just so glad I got my hand on the wall first and it was all worth it”. But a great swim from McKeon saw her grab bronze to add to her gold from the 4x100m freestyle.
