The most decorated Olympian of all-time outstretched Japan’s Masato Sakai to capture a thrilling final in Phelps’s signature event, the 200-meter butterfly, achieving an inconceivable milestone of 20 golds in his Olympic career.
Advertisement
“I got the silver – look, I’m obviously very happy with that, but it would have been nice to win gold”, Le Clos said. A lung-bursting event that most swimmers hate, it has always been his favorite race, but one in which he still thought he had a point to prove.
“Definitely tired a little bit”, said Phelps, who told reporters he had got about five hours sleep.
“It’s going to take a ideal performance in order to beat him because of how tough a competitor he is”, said world record holder Lochte, who has taken two silvers and a bronze behind Phelps in Athens, Beijing and London. Silver is great but if we’d had that race again I would have loved to have won it.
South African Le Clos, who won by a fingertip four years ago in London to deny the American a hat-trick of titles, faded badly down the stretch to finish out of the medals. Phelps already broke the modern record in London, held by Ray Ewry, who competed in the 1900, ’04, and ’08 Olympic Games. He now has 21 gold medals to his credit, 12 more golds than any other Olympic athlete, and can still add two more to his mantel.
Phelps cruised to the wall in the final freestyle leg on Wednesday’s semifinal, clocking in at 1 minute, 55.78 seconds as he preserved his strength for the final 200 IM of his career. The bronze went to Hungary’s Tamas Kendersei in 1:53.62, just ahead of the fading le Clos.
Advertisement
In Rio, he has so far taken three golds – one individual and two relays – and on Thursday he could become the first swimmer to win the same event, the 200m individual medley, at four successive Games. Leah Smith, who won the bronze medal in the 400 free on Sunday night, and battled with Australia in the final 50.
