Even though the 100m free isn’t one of Phelps’ specialities, he blazed down and back in a stunning 47.12 seconds, a time that was faster than all but the three anchors on the medal-winning teams. While his time was slightly behind Nathan Adrian (46.97) and Phelps (47.12), the junior sprinter edged out Caeleb Dressel (48.10) to prove his worth to the relay team.
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Nathan Adrian of Bremerton and Michael Phelps will need to clear out more space for their medals. Phelps saw what was happening and offered a supportive hand around Held’s neck.
Australia are tipped to win the gold medal match in the women’s rugby sevens, too, meaning it could be a particularly successful day for those in green and gold. I was too exhausted to cry.
When Ryan Held needed a supportive shoulder to lean on after claiming an emotional first Olympic medal on Sunday, he found just what he needed in the man who has collected more than any other athlete in the history of sport.
With the first-place finish, Anthony Ervin, who anchored the U.S. in Sunday’s preliminary heats, becomes the oldest swimmer in history (35 years, 74 days) to win an Olympic medal, besting fellow American Dara Torres (33 years, 161 days).
“It was insane. I was standing on the block while Caeleb was coming in and I honestly thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest”, said Phelps, who clocked a personal best 47.12sec. “Those emotions kind of manifested on the podium”.
Adrian smiled as he comforted his younger teammates.
‘I love a little emotion, ‘ he said. “Every third day in San Antonio, we’d do something and he’d say, ‘That was pretty good.’ And I’d say, ‘Yeah, they’re good.’ So he just started putting those back to back”.
Olympic rookies Held and Dressel shed tears of joy.
But the Opals star says she still needs to have a proper chat with Bogut, ominously stating in the Herald Sun: “I feel like I still need to educate Andrew, I mean, sorry, Bogut, on police brutality and racial profiling from police officers in Australia”.
“It’s just the most awesome moment to step up there”, he said of the podium ceremony and national anthem, which made the entire team teary eyed.
Phelps had counseled Dressel and Held ahead of time that it was OK to sing and cry on the medal stand.
Gold medals have been a part of Phelps’ swimming career for a long time and the 23 lifetime medal victor delivered with an astounding flip turn and underwater, the part after a flip turn that a swimmer stays underwater before surfacing to start his swim, put the American men’s 4 x 100 relay team in front of the pack with a 47.12 split.
Held marveled at his good fortune to have helped add to Phelps’ glittering collection.
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‘Holy cow, it’s unreal, unbelievable, ‘ he said. His Wikipedia page will forevermore be a picture of him crying because that’s exactly what he did right after he and his teammates won gold.
