(In a swimming world that’s constantly getting faster, the fly times had reverted back to what they were when Phelps first came onto the global scene in 2000.) Le Clos took it personally and started a one-man war of the words.
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Call it the Rematch in Rio.
“I’m not just going to throw a stick of butter on him and say, ‘Well, I read that Usain Bolt or whoever is doing this, ‘” Robinson said.
An hour later, he returned to take what amounted to nothing more than a triumphant victory lap in anchoring the 4×200 freestyle relay, the crowd’s deafening roar growing louder with every stroke.
By the finish, le Clos wasn’t even on the podium.
“If he feels like he feels better”, Hamilton said, “that’s never a bad thing”. “I’ll race my heart out”.
“Of course there’s a huge rivalry between Michael and myself”, Le Clos said. It also tends to leave prominent hickey-like marks, as seen on swimming legend Michael Phelps and gymnast Alex Naddour.
Phelps was second, but surprisingly after his fast start, Le Clos was outside the top three.
Overall, the Baltimore native has 23 Olympic medals from four games, not including his 2000 Olympic debut in Sydney when a 15-year-old, braces-sporting Phelps pulled up fifth in his only event. His parents, both battling cancer, are cheering him on in Rio.
And she said it lasts a while.
The athlete made a solid case for greatest of all-time, winning an unprecedented eight gold medals, kicking his way to world-record times in seven of those races and an Olympic record in the eighth.
Meanwhile, fellow U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky won her second gold in Rio and her third overall following her triumph in the women’s 200m freestyle final, with Australia’s Emma McKeon claiming bronze.
The silver went to Sjostrom in 1:54.08, while early leader Emma McKeon faded to the bronze in 1:54.92. “It’s the third round that counts”.
Katinka Hosszu is having quite an Olympics, too. Phelps swam the fastest 100 meters of his life, a blazing 47.12 seconds on the second leg of the relay that turned a slim deficit in the race against France into a comfortable lead that teammates Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian were able to hold the rest of the way. 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. Harsh words have been directed as athletes such as Yulina Efimova and Sun Yang, who previously served doping suspensions.
