“I don’t know if I’ve been in a tie so a three-way touch is pretty wild”, said Phelps, whose Olympic gold medal tally remains at a staggering 22.
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“Probably one of the biggest competitors I call a competitor”, Phelps said of Lochte.
With his recent 200-meter butterfly win in Rio including two golds in relay, the 31-year-old swimmer is on his way to nab his 22nd gold medal after making it to the 200-meter individual medley final which will take place on August 12. Phelps was the swimmer almost two seconds ahead of the rest of the field while Lochte finished in fifth place.
Phelps, South Africa’s Chad le Clos and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh – the event’s juggernauts for the past two Olympiads – were beat to the wall by Joseph Schooling of Singapore, who raced to 50.39 and set a new Olympic record.
Despite winning four golds in London in 2012, Phelps has said he was dissatisfied with his preparation and results there and wants to bow out on his own terms. He ran three separate races: the stadion, the diaulos and the hoplitodromos in four separate Olympics. Never mind the fact that no other swimmer on the planet was as much a threat to Phelps as Ryan Lochte.
It was Canada’s first gold medal of these Games and the US’ 16th, 11 of them coming in the pool. “I’m definitely going to cherish it for the rest of my life”, said Lochte. I’ve done something that no one in our country has done before.
For fans who tune into swimming only when the Olympics roll around, Phelps’s longtime coach Bob Bowman had a message: Phelps may make it look easy, but it isn’t. With the win, Manuel became the first African-American woman to win gold in swimming. “I think so. I really think so”.
Phelps hustled off after his victory, knowing he had to come back about 40 minutes later for the semifinals of the 100 butterfly, another event he’ll be trying to win for the fourth straight time.
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Don’t get me wrong, Lochte’s prowess in interviews range from hilarious to unspeakably cringe-worthy.
