It was Pereira in front at the end of the first 50 metres, as the home crowd cheered him on lustily in hopes of the gold medal. Japan’s other triumph in Rio’s pool came on Saturday when Kosuke Hagino won the men’s 400m individual medley.
Advertisement
“It’s not the finish I wanted”, Lochte said.
He even got a chance to meet him as a starstruck 13-year-old in Singapore before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the games where Phelps won a record eight gold medals in the pinnacle of his career. He edged ahead, and for the first time in the race, a leader had emerged at some distance from second.
Simone Manuel of the United States embraces Abbey Weitzeil of the United States after winning gold in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Final on Day 6 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 11, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “I’ve been able to come back and I’ve been able to accomplish things that I just dreamt of”, he said.
This morning, Lochte kept the same theme going on the “Today” show about Phelps and Tokyo, saying “I guarantee he will be there”.
Will the Michael Phelps-Ryan Lochte rivalry carry on into 2020? “I think so. I really think so”.
“It’s been a long journey”, he told NBC after the race.
But he had looked unstoppable in Rio, at least until Asian champion Schooling floored him in the 100m fly, an event he had won at the past three Games.
After tying for the silver medal in the 100 meter butterfly on Friday, Michael Phelps made a point of telling reporters that the Rio Olympics are going to be his last. The second most-decorated US men’s swimmer in history, Lochte said he needs a break from the sport.
He sold his first 50 free gold medal on Ebay for $17,101 to aid the 2004 tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia, and lost another one while traveling in his retirement.
Advertisement
In Thursday night’s 200-meter individual medley, Phelps bested Lochte and the field to win his record 22nd Olympic gold. “I feel like we have a lot of hungry kids who are pumped for the next four years”.
