Phelps looked as if he didn’t want the moment to end.
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Phelps had this one marked on his calendar ever since he came out of retirement.
An hour after the win, Phelps returned to the Olympic pool to help the USA Team win the men’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay.
The cutie was watching his dad from the stands with his mum, Phelps’ fiance Nicole Johnson and the usa athlete couldn’t resist a quick cuddle from the tot after he was awarded his medal. A wide grin never disappeared.
Another US swim phenomenon Katie Ledecky is back in action the day after she secured her second gold of the Games in the women´s 200m freestyle.
“Now I’m looking forward to rest of the week – I am not even halfway done yet”, he said.
Michael Fhelps of theUnited Statesprepares prior to the men’s 200m butterfly swimming heat at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 8, 2016.
It certainly does seem he prefers to pump up the beat to get his blood flowing before he jumps into the pool. He wanted to be finished with swimming for good.
In his absence, le Clos had a strong meet, saying after the 100 butterfly, “I just did a time that he hasn’t done in four years”.
“I wanted to see how he did in the semis [of the 200- butterfly], and actually, his semi time was about half a second faster than he did in London before the relay”, he said.
Phelps, won the title in 2004 and 2008 and he reclaimed it early Tuesday evening Irish time.
Another US swimmer is also being celebrated… “The last 10 meters were not fun, oh my gosh”.
The 200m butterfly was his first world record in 2001 and he was determined to win back the Olympic title he lost to South Africa’s Le Clos in 2012. “That event was kind of like my bread and butter”.
During the preliminary heat of the 200 butterfly Monday, a ferocious, single-minded stare consumed Phelps’ face in the ready room.
Michael Phelps has won his 21st gold medal, seeing off London 2012 nemesis Chad Le Clos in the butterfly and leading some to note “Le Clos but no cigar”.
“It was really just going through the last 16 years”, he said. “But the kid has got talent”.
About an hour later, Phelps was back in the water again, anchoring the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay in a race that was far from close, with the US team – Conor Dwyer; Townley Haas; Ryan Lochte; and Phelps – shaving 6 seconds off their qualifying time to finish at 7:00.66 – just 2 seconds off the world record. But two individual events – he can challenge for gold in both – and a relay still remain for the father.
A disbelieving Phelps was still absorbing his achievement as the most decorated Olympian in history, with 25 medals in all, when he targeted further success in his fifth and final Games. The winning time was 1 minute, 53.36 seconds, but that was of little concern. Sjostrom was second in 1:54.08.
On Sunday, Ledecky broke her world record in the 400 freestyle for the first gold. And she admitted that the effort took a toll.
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“I didn’t say anything to anybody else, but there wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing that tonight”, Phelps told reporters after the race.
