RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Michael Phelps sat alone, thoroughly exhausted.
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Phelps had his game face on, and it was intense.
For Ledecky, the result nearly qualifies as a photo finish; her speed has often appeared unmatchable at the longer distances in which she dominates.
That result has irked Phelps ever since.
“The last 10 meters were not fun”, Phelps said. Four years ago, Phelps misjudged his finish – gliding a little too long after his final stroke – and was edged at the wall by South African Chad le Clos. That fall, le Clos told the website Sport360 he felt his quotes had been taken out of context.
“May the best man win”, he said.
But the South African could only manage fourth this time, also finishing behind bronze medalist Tamas Kenderesi of Hungary.
During his press conference Le Clos was asked about the clip he said: “Oh, did they catch that?”
“I think it was a big race and hats off to Michael and the true champion that he is”.
There’s more to the story than a swimmer being annoyed by another athlete’s pre-race rituals.
The seeds for this rivalry have been planted over the last few years.
“You can call him the greatest of all time now”. Although Lochte will not swim in the same heat as Phelps, the two may fight each other for top spots in Wednesday night’s semifinal.
Phelps had won the title at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and reclaimed it with a block to wall victory in one minute 53.36 seconds on Tuesday.
United States’ Katie Ledecky, right, celebrates with United States’ Leah Smith after setting a new world record in the women’s 400-meter freestyle final during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lochte, a three-time Olympian, victor of five gold medals, and world-record holder in the 4x200m freestyle relay, is better known for his bad interviews, sexual exploits, and reality TV show than for his swimming prowess.
“It’s frustrating to miss out on the gold medal but when you look at it on TV, just swimming alongside one of my heroes is such an honor”, said Sakai.
Ledecky and Sjostrom aren’t the only women dominating at the pool. Siobhan-Marie O’Connor of Britain challenged Hosszu all the way but had to settle for silver.
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Phelps also took aim at swimmers linked to doping, an issue that has been at the forefront on the heels Russian doping scandal. “I’m saying he’s going to come back”. I’m swimming times like I used to.
