Thursday’s victory was Phelps’ 22nd Olympic gold medal as he continues to extend his record as the most successful Olympian of all time.
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After dusting off ancient textbooks, historians discovered the American had equalled the all-time Olympic record with 12 individual titles – one that incredibly dates back to 152 BC. “Phelps got the gold”, said Friedman after a gap of a few seconds. But he and Lochte are known to be friends, and their roommate in Rio, Conor Dwyer said yesterday that from the way Phelps and Lochte act around each other, he would never guess that these roomies are also perennially vying for swimming glory.
Japan’s 400 IM champion Kosuke Hagino won silver and Wang Shun of China took bronze, both moving dramatically through the field on the final length after turning in fifth and seventh place. It was a far cry from the London Games, where “Missy The Missile” became only the second American woman to take four gold medals in a single Olympics. But he’s the second-most-decorated swimmer in Olympic history.
“It’s insane to think about but It’s also really cool because I’ve been able to do everything that I ever wanted”, he added.
“It all started as just a kid who wasn’t afraid”.
Perhaps in another 2,000 years the stories of Phelps and his exploits will be shared around the table given his astonishing record. It’s more painful getting out of the pool. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom finished third. Campbell, incredibly, finished outside of the medals in fourth. That was the first American gold in the women’s 100 free since 1984, when teammates Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer also tied for it.
“I don’t know how to wrap my head around that”, Phelps said. Ryan Murphy completed a sweep of the men’s backstroke events in the 200, but the most socially significant triumph was Simone Manuel tying 16-year-old Canadian Penny Oleksiak for the top spot in the 100 freestyle.
Japan’s Rie Kaneto took gold in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke final after edging out Russia’s Yulia Efimova. Shi Jinglin claimed bronze for China.
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American Ryan Murphy completed a Rio double after bullying world champion Mitchell Larkin in the men’s 200m backstroke, winning in 1:53.62 to underline U.S. dominance of the event.
