Phelps wound up in a three-way tie for silver along with two longtime rivals, Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary.
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Astonishingly, all three touched out in 51.14 seconds, behind Schooling’s Olympic record 50.39.
Think about it. Phelps has won 22 gold medals – 13 in individual events, which broke Leonidas of Rhodes’ 2,160-year record – and 27 total. He would be 35 by 2020, and 35-year-old Anthony Ervin, victor Friday night of the men’s 50m free in 21.4, is proof positive that swim life doesn’t have to stop after 30.
After a strong start from local favourite Thiago Pereira, Phelps took charge on the backstroke leg before powering away to win in one minute, 54.66 seconds – nearly two seconds clear of Japan’s Kosuke Hagino in second.
“It’s up to him where he wants to take it”.
“That’s for you bro, don’t look at me”, Phelps told him.
Correction: An earlier version of the story stated that there was a massive spike in tweets bearing the hashtag #SchoolingWinsGold, instead of just tweets about Schooling’s win.
Lochte, who predicted after London that Phelps would be back for Rio, said here there has to be at least a chance Phelps might consider Tokyo.
It was while he was a student that Schooling first met Phelps. I think with a different objective, he’s going to come back and push his limits. “And I think he’s coming back again”.
The Singaporean President Tony Tan flew to Rio to sit poolside when Schooling won the gold medal in front of a global audience which had expected to see Phelps win his last race but instead witnessed one of the biggest sporting upsets ever and Singapore’s greatest sporting moment.
The grandson of high-jumper Lloyd Valberg, Singapore’s first Olympian at the 1948 Games, Schooling enrolled into the Bolles School in Florida just a year after meeting Phelps.
The 31-year-old will compete for the United States in the 4x100m medley relay when the swimming competition ends on Saturday and he is certain it will be his last race, even if others try to persuade him to continue.
Schooling took to Facebook shortly before 2pm – 3am in Rio de Janeiro – to post a photo of his gold medal with the message: “Well. This is like my first gold medal it’s not like I’ve won 22 or 23”. “I got silver tie in London so a three way tie is insane”.
In more or less decent shape, Phelps won six medals in London, four gold. “I dodged questions”, he said. I saw that today and I thought, “Oh, thanks Ryan!” I’ve been able to do everything I’ve ever put my mind to in 24 years in this sport.
“As a kid”, he said, “that’s just something you can dream of and hope for”.
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Said the SNOC: “For competitive athletes, the cost of training at elite level requires an enormous financial investment over many years”.
