Time to make room for gold No. 19. “I was so hyped tonight and so excited”. Defending Olympic champion France took the silver in 3:10.53, while Australia rallied for the bronze in 3:11.37.
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The teenager from suburban Washington, D.C., will also be the heavy favorite in two other individual races, the 200- and 800-meter freestyle.
“I touched the wall and looked around and thought ‘where is everybody?’ Peaty told reporters”.
“I knew I was the big favourite”.
With son Boomer in attendance, Phelps did his kid proud, along with teammates Caleb Dressel, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian.
It was quite a night for the Americans, who were shut out on the golds on the opening night of swimming.
The result was totally expected.
Four years ago in London, Ashwood placed seventh in her 800 metres freestyle heat and 20 overall.
She won the bronze medal for that event at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, by clocking an Australian record time of 4:03.34.
Her powerful stroke quickly made that a moot point, too.
Lilly King is the talk of the town after reacting to Yulia Efimova throwing up a number one sign following her win in the first semifinal.
It was unclear before the Games whether Ledecky would swim in the finals of this event, as shorter distances are not her specialty.
Ledecky, the rising USA swimming sensation, shaved 1.91 seconds off her own world record on the way to the 400m gold, the first stage of a rare treble she hopes to complete along with the 200m and 800m. She crushed the mark of 3:58.37 that she set almost two years ago on the Gold Coast of Australia, and had been chasing ever since.
“For me to come away with a silver is pretty special but just a great night for GB in the pool”. I’ve never wanted to be on a relay so bad. “I knew I was due for a breakthrough”.
In her 400m heat Ashwoood finished just outside that mark with a 4:03.58 as she placed fourth.
Oleksiak broke the junior world record.
Britain’s Adam Peaty set his second world record in as many nights in the 100 breaststroke, while Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden eclipsed her own mark in the 100 butterfly.
Already, six world records have been set in Rio.
Speaking of records, Phelps will likely take his medal count to heights that may never be reached by the time he’s done in Rio. “After my race I needed to slap something and there was just the water right there”.
Given the form he showed in his Rio debut, five more golds are certainly within reach.
“I am obviously a little bit devastated, but this is the best that I have done at an Olympics”, Ashwood said. “I guess we’ll see over the next couple of days. But I’m very pleased with the start”.
Still to come: the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay, featuring the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. Ledecky, in fact, was the only US swimmer who competed in both the preliminaries and the finals as the Americans tried to find a way to catch the Australians, who posted the fastest qualifying time.
At age 31, the guy can still amaze.
In a reminder of the doping controversies that dogged the build-up to the Olympics, there were loud boos for Russian breaststroker Yulia Efimova and the men’s relay team.
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He was no doubt remembering the ups and downs of the last four years. “So it feels really good”.
