She is only the second woman the manage the feat. It didn’t matter whether he had a good start (he did) or good turn (he did) or a strong finish (eh). Meanwhile, Joseph Schooling from Singapore shocked the field by winning the gold in Olympic-record time (50.39). “Chad (Le Clos) asked me in the award area and the Dwyers were chanting “four more years”.
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“I like to have those extra seven or eight minutes in between”, said the American. “It’s Michael Phelps!’ and I really wanted a picture”.
It was the first of his five races this week in which he didn’t win a gold medal.
Ervin won gold in this same event 16 years ago – and he made headlines for selling that medal for $17,000 back in 2004, when he donated the proceeds to UNICEF to help relief efforts in tsunami-stricken Indonesia. “But I’m accepting it”. In tonight’s race, he was faster by 0.58 seconds.
He had so far earned 26 medals, 22 of them gold. The lone exception came in 1980 Moscow Olympics, when Australia placed first in a Games boycotted by the United States of America and other countries.
Michael Phelps insists that he is retiring after one last stab at Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro. One can only imagine the celebrations in Singapore now, as the race ran in the Saturday morning hours. And he needed the whole day to rest after a grueling Thursday slate that included his victory in the 200 individual medley and his preliminary and semifinal swims in the 100 butterfly.
“He obviously swam the best race”.
While Ledecky, at 19, is the youngest member of the US team, Ervin is the oldest at 35.
“I hope this paves a new road for sports in Singapore”, Schooling said.
“It is a wild way to end my individual career”.
After the race, Schooling said Phelps had noticed the dejected Singaporean walking behind him.
“I don’t know what to believe”, he said.
“Congratulations to Joseph Schooling, for bagging the Gold medal in the Olympic Men 100m Butterfly in 50.39s and breaking the Olympics record in the process! Hopefully, I can get more of his records”.
Ledecky is now finished with her events in Rio.
Another world record was set at the velodrome when Britain’s four-man cycling team won the men’s pursuit. However, she demolished that already-impressive hurl on Friday afternoon.
On the medal stand the emotions swept over her.
“I need to let this moment sink in, realise what I’ve done and then I’ll have a better understanding of what I accomplished”.
Ledecky’s admirers include numerous biggest names in the sport.
“I was like, ‘Dude, this is insane, ‘” Schooling told Phelps. “There’s no doubt in my mind”. “Sometimes you take one on the chin”, Adams said. “The distances vary. But, yeah, she’s as dominant as it gets”.
Phelps meanwhile, was humble in defeat as he heaped praise on the 21-year-old champion.
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“And I’m standing by that”, he promised, even adding later, “Were the papers here, I’d sign them tomorrow”. “There’s a lot of excitement on the team, and that’s something fun for me to watch”.
