He sat down hard on the blocks at the Olympic Aquatics Center, relieved but exhausted.
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It may not seem like a big deal that Phelps won his second and third golds at these games, and now has 21 overall. An hour later, he returned to anchor the 4×200 freestyle relay, the crowd’s deafening roar growing louder with every stroke. What happened four years ago is still with me.
RIO DE JANEIRO Good old Michael Phelps, golden again.
At the other end of Olympic Park, the USA women’s gymnastics team captured a second straight gold with a high-flying and dominating performance.
“When I came back I said that I wanted the 200m fly”, he said, adding that the realization that these are his last Olympics was starting to sink in.
“This is a race I really wanted tonight”. At this pace, she could challenge Phelps’ medal haul someday. “I felt like I was standing still”, Phelps said.
The internet went insane over Phelps’ face, but on Tuesday, Phelps got his ultimate revenge on Clos when he took home gold in the event. “He usually sleeps all the time”.
The only thing that mattered was getting to the wall first. “The last 10 meters were not fun, oh my gosh”.
Phelps told NBC after the event that he had been thinking about “nothing” while le Clos was dancing in front of him, as the New York Times reported.
So when Phelps, who was due to retire after the London Games but subsequently changed his mind (something to do with the lost gold, perhaps?) was due to take on SA star Chad in the same race in this year’s games, SA-American swimming fan rivalry reached fever pitch. “I heard him say ‘Diddy, look at my cap”.
The relay was much less dramatic.
Conor Dwyer even gave Phelps his hat after Phelps’ split.
It’s not an ideal distance for her, but just to show how dominating she is, she managed a narrow victory over Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom by.35 seconds, in a time of 1 minute, 53.73 seconds.
Sure, Phelps hogged the spotlight on this night, but let’s not forget two other very impressive swimmers.
You may have noticed a bunch of athletes at the Rio Olympics with weird large purple and red circles all over their skin, including 21-time Olympic gold medal victor Michael Phelps.
Cupping therapy made its Olympic debut this year, most notably on American swimmer Michael Phelps, and raised plenty of questions about the treatment.
But nothing could beat Tuesday night’s dramatic action in the pool, with Hosszu completing the individual medley double by winning the 200m final in an Olympic best 2:06.58. It was the team’s first-ever Olympic goal, and first-ever goal against the United States. Siobhan-Marie O’Connor of Britain challenged Hosszu all the way but had to settle for silver.
For Phelps, another retirement looms.
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“That event was kind of my bread and butter”.
