The gritty and seemingly unstoppable Katie Ledecky is also back in the pool, this time to qualify for the 800m freestyle. He was back at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium getting started on his bid to win the 200-metre individual medley for the fourth straight time. Pieter Timmers of Belgium claimed the silver in 47.80, while Adrian made it onto the medal podium – with a bronze this time – in 47.85.
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If Phelps wins one more individual gold, he will be the most decorated Olympian of all-time, literally.
Fellow American Leah Smith, who herself has won a gold and a bronze in Rio so far, also qualified for the 800m free final, posting the fourth fastest time in prelims at 8.57 seconds behind Ledecky. Coverage of the preliminary heats begin at 12 pm ET. They’re the two greatest 200 IM swimmers in history.
For example, when asked how he celebrated after winning two gold medals on Tuesday night, Michael Phelps answered “We played cards and then I guess the Snapchat filters have been a big hit for everybody so we’ve been messing around with those”. Aly Raisman, who also shared in the US team gold Tuesday, is in Biles’ rotation. She still posted the best time by nearly seven seconds.
Coming to Rio as a heavy favorite, Biles has excelled under the pressure and the spotlight. And Russia goes for its first gold medal in the pool in the men’s 200 backstroke. World champion Mitch Larkin, and Americans Jacob Pebley and 100 back victor Ryan Murphy will vie for medals.
He came third in semi-final 2 to set up the clash against Phelps in the finals.
Madison Keys plays a forehand during the Women’s Singles second round match against Kristina Mladenovic of France on Day 3 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The swimmer stands two golds short of Brazil’s (the host nation) all-time tally with a number of events still left to go.
Keys, a 21-year-old making her Olympic debut, is 9th in the WTA tour rankings. Kasatkina is ranked 27. She burst onto the world scene when she won the event at the 2012 London Olympics in 8:13.86.
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The U.S. women have been on a roll in Rio, beating Argentina, Australia and Japan. Both secured their latest gold medals on August 9 in the United States team’s victory in the 800m free relay.
