Simone Biles of the United States competes on the balance beam during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Rio Olympic Arena on August 9, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Most of the attention Thursday will be on Michael Phelps, who complained that his fifth Olympics is the most painful yet.
It’ll be all business on Thursday night. “We’ve been racing for 12 years, and with one more battle, it will be fun”. Another American, Ryan Murphy, moved closer to sweeping the backstroke events when he made the final of the men’s 200-meter backstroke.
Put into perspective, if Phelps were a sovereign state he would rank 52nd in the all-time lists in terms of total medals won.
“I’m just thankful, that’s for sure, I wanted that one back”, he said.
He believes Le Cos could dominate the blue-riband event in years to come turning his focus on the 100m, 200m freestyle, and the 100m butterfly events.
‘What happened four years ago is still with me. All that and much more in Day 6 of the Olympics in Rio.
“It’s going to take a flawless performance in order to beat him just because of how tough a competitor he is”, Lochte said.
“He won’t give up and that’s awesome”.
“It’s not the underdog, it’s not whatever, it’s just us, united as strong and resilient and gritty”, Michelle Vittese said.
Lochte, 32, thought Rio might finally be the Games when it was “my turn” to shine in the spotlight Phelps has monopolized since 2004. He plans to marry his fiancé after the games and focus on life with their infant son.
Said Lochte: “Whenever we go up on the blocks, we’re always trying to win”. With one egg left in his basket, another 200 IM showdown against Phelps. “It’s the best thing I can do for my country”.
Phelps has by far the most of any Olympic athlete and is the only one to win eight golds at a single Games, an achievement that earned much fanfare plus a $1 million bonus in Beijing in 2008.
Phelps qualified fastest for the 200m individual medley decider with a time of 1 minute 55.78 seconds in his semifinal at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on Wednesday. Bronte is the reigning world champion, but Cate is the world-record holder.
“I think all of Kazakhstan will be drinking tonight”, said Balandin, who won in 2:07.46.
In the women’s races, Ledecky, 19, pipped Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and Australia’s Emma McKeon to win the 200 freestyle, on top of her victory in the 400 on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands will try to defend her sprint title.
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Ledecky turned in a split of 1 minute, 53.74 seconds, which was almost 2.5 seconds faster than her next-fastest teammate, Allison Schmitt in 1:56.21.
