Michael Phelps brought the curtain down on one of sport’s most storied careers with a dynamite relay swim to give himself 23 Olympic gold medals and declared it a flawless finale.
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Also the U.S. women’s 4×100-meter medley relay team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel is being recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee as delivering the nation’s 1,000th gold medal in Summer Olympics history, although there are questions and disputes over past medals that shade the accomplishment a bit. Britain held on for silver (3:29.24), with Australia nabbing bronze (3:29.93).
As Adrian touched the wall to finish off the victory, Phelps gathered the other relay swimmers, Ryan Murphy and Cody Miller, in his arms.
Whereas Phelps demonstrated that he was the best athlete of the modern era in the Beijing 2008 Games, when he broke Mark Spitz’s record of seven first-place finishes at any Olympic Games by winning eight gold medals, 2016 has proven that he is the best Olympian ever. Phelps put the USA ahead on the butterfly leg and they held on to capture his 23rd gold medal.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Towson Patch. Just sharing that with three other women is the icing on top of the cake and I could not have done this without the relay swimmers, the coaches. Nathan Adrian surged off the block for the freestyle leg, and the Americans celebrated Phelps’ 23rd career gold medal. “The way that I did it tonight, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way”.
This is goodbye for Michael Phelps.
The Americans finished in three minutes, 27.95 seconds, an Olympic record, to win by 1.29 seconds. “And to do it in probably one of the most-watched races in history, with it being Michael’s last race, that’s something I’m going to cherish forever”. “To swim that last race with him and get gold, it’s really a dream come true”.
Earlier in the night, Manuel took silver in the 50 free.
Connor Jaeger of the United States took the silver in 14:39.48, while the bronze went to another Italian, Gabriele Detti, in 14:40.86. “That island has given me so much, so much love and support throughout my whole career, and I just owe this to them”.
Since he first took the Olympic plunge at the 2000 Sydney Games he has had an ambition to take swimming into the mainstream and there is no doubt the sport has enjoyed a much higher profile during his tenure as its leading figure.
“That’s something I’ve been going for for a long time”, said Murphy.
“What I’m most happy about is that the 100m title is staying in Jamaica”, said Fraser-Pryce, who raced with her hair dyed in Jamaica’s national colours.
Connor Jaeger gave the US another silver in the 1,500 free, leaving the American with 33 swimming medals in Rio – matching the highest total since the boycotted Los Angeles Games in 1984.
There are several factors that go into the success of the USA program, starting with some simple numbers.
It was also the 1,001st gold medal for the United States.
Even when he is tripped and falls, he wins an Olympic gold medal.
Justin Gatlin of the USA, considered Bolt’s main rival for the gold medal, recorded the fastest time of the heats with 10.01 seconds.
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Meanwhile, Venus Williams won the shot at another first when she and mixed doubles partner Rajeev Ram advanced to a gold medal match against fellow Americans Bethanie Matteck-Sands and Jack Sock.
