Phelps bowed out with his fifth gold of the Rio Games in his fifth and final Olympics after powering the United States to victory in the men’s 4x100m medley relay.
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And the most decorated Olympian of all time was clearly out to leave a valedictory flourish.
He ended the week with five golds and a silver, improving on his tally in London four years ago when he came away with four golds – half his tally in Beijing in 2008 – and felt he had failed to do himself full justice, prompting him to come back from retirement in 2014. Throughout his last individual swimming race, Phelps chose to stick to the side of the lane over his preference of the customary middle line. To the naked eye, it appeared Cavic touched first because he was already reaching for the wall. Phelps dove in, trailing by 0.61 seconds.
Michael Phelps reflected on a fairytale conclusion to a dream career after claiming his 23rd Olympic gold in Rio in his final race.
It is hard to imagine any athlete challenging his medal totals – 28 overall and 23 gold – so now it is time for Phelps to find another pursuit. He broke a 2,000-year-old record. Thorpe took the race, followed by van Den Hoogenband, while Phelps grabbed the bronze.
Earlier, the U.S. team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel won the women’s 4x100m medley in a time of 3 minutes 53.13 seconds, 1.87 seconds ahead of Australia.
Phelps showed fans around his room in the Athletes’ Village and showed his room’s “strong” medal count. Puig had only beaten one top-ten player in her career (and none this year) but on the way to the gold she beat two.
While there are unknowns ahead, Phelps is confident he is bowing out at the right time.
Michael Phelps closed out the Rio Olympics in the only way imaginable. The South African did not medal.
He quit drinking, reconnected with his estranged father, got engaged, moved to Arizona with his longtime coach Bob Bowman, and became a father.
Phelps is more aware of his place in history, too. Before that, they were wondering whether this could have been a disaster.
This time, the 31-year-old sounds much more adamant when he says there will be no more comebacks.
History was made in the 100-meter butterfly where Phelps won silver.
Ledecky leaves Rio with four gold medals, including three in individual events, as well as a silver medal as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay. “It’s been an wonderful career, a ridiculous career and there’s no better way of finishing how I did”, he said on Sunday.
How Many Gold Medals did Michael Phelps Win? .
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Additionally, Phelps managed to break a almost 2,200-year-old record with his 13th individual gold medal last week in the 200m individual medley.
