The journey from London to Rio was not a straightforward one, featuring an arrest for drink driving and a subsequent suspension which saw him miss last year’s World Championships in Kazan, Russia. The U.S. men’s swim team now boasts the most Olympic medals in the village, according to Phelp’s live interview with NBC after the relay win. An hour later, he returned to take what amounted to nothing more than a triumphant victory lap in anchoring the 4×200 freestyle relay, the crowd’s deafening roar growing louder with every stroke.
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There was a quick dash to give his baby son Boomer a victory kiss and then he had to prepare for the relay.
The scene became a vivid reflection of Phelps’ proclaimed determination to fully enjoy what in theory really will be his last Olympics in a way a burned-out husk of himself had not been able to in London four years ago.
Phelps’s victory over Le Clos – the South African finished fourth – must have been a sweet feeling after his rival had publicly stated that he meant to break the American’s butterfly world records in Rio.
Cseh began to fade, with Le Clos moving into second at the 150 metre-mark but the South African could not match Phelps in the final lap, with the American punching the air in delight after stepping out.
The Japan team of Kosuke Hagino, Naito Ehara, Yuki Kobori and Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze, the country’s first medal in the event since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Ukrainian javelin thrower was stripped of his silver medal from the 2012 London Olympics, becoming the latest athlete disqualified after the retesting of stored doping samples.
That came just after Phelps had stood atop an Olympic podium for the 20th time as the Star-Spangled Banner (or is it “The Ballad of Michael Phelps”) played either for him or a team he was on.
Also Tuesday night, Katie Ledecky took the most challenging step toward a feat that’s only been done one other time.
On Sunday the came closer than anyone has ever done wearing textile suits, when the quartet of Caeleb Dressel, Phelps, Ryan Held and 100m freestyle world champion Nathan Adrian clocked 3:09.92. This is the third gold medal in 200 fly in Phelps’ career (Athens, 2004; Beijing, 2008).
The victory maintained a run of USA success in the event, with the Americans medalling in every 4×100 freestyle relay raced at the Games since it was first included in 1964.
It was Phelps’s third gold of the week – he had helped the United States of America to the 4x100m freestyle relay gold on Sunday – and he has three more chances to add to his stunning haul.
Still, Phelps was not done, putting the finishing touch to an easy win in the 4x200m free, cruising home nearly two and a half seconds ahead of Britain’s James Guy in the swimming equivalent of baseball’s home-run trot around the bases.
Hungary’s “Iron Lady” Hosszu completed the individual medley double by winning the 200m final in an Olympic best 2:06.58, with Britain’s Siobhan-Marie O’Connor taking silver in 2:06.88. Maya DiRado of the United States held on for the bronze.
Earlier in the night, Ledecky defeated Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom to win gold in the 200 freestyle.
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“It’s everything and more than I’d hoped it to be”, said the tiny 19-year-old Texan who has set gymnastics alight with 10 world titles in the past three years. “I’ll race my heart out”.
