The 31-year-old, who had already golds from the 4×100, 4x200m and 200m butterfly under his belt in Rio, took his competitors apart with a devastating display of swimming.
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“I had a hard time holding it together, very special getting able to win 22 gold medals”.
Phelps earned his 22nd Olympic gold medal to become the first swimmer in Olympic history to win the same event on four occasions.
Ryan Lochte said on TODAY that he will “guarantee” Michael Phelps will return for the 2020 Olympics: “Michael, I’ll see you in Tokyo”.
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino won the silver medal while China’s Shun Wang won the bronze medal. The title “black swimmer” makes it seem like I’m not supposed to be able to win a gold medal or I’m not supposed to break records.
Phelps retired after London 2012, but returned to the sport in 2014.
“I’m just probably more vocal and more outgoing now than I have been in the past”, Phelps said after the heats of the 100m breaststroke, in which he qualified fourth fastest for the semifinals. I came back the heaviest I had ever been.
“Of course I wanted gold like any other athlete, especially at the Olympics, and it was so close”, Efimova said.
“I can’t say this (Olympics is over)”. “But at the same time, I would like there to be a day where there are more of us”.
Singapore’s Joseph Schooling reacts after winning gold for the men’s 100m butterfly final on Aug 12. Phelps has said he emerged with a new perspective about what really mattered after his six-week stay. Phelps came out on top each time, and the one time Lochte wasn’t the runner-up (2008), he still took home a bronze medal.
“I’m really honoured and privileged to swim alongside some of these great names, people who changed the face of our sport”, he added.
The United States’ Olympic domination has not been all-encompassing.
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Phelps settled for silver along with two longtime rivals, Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary.
