“I’m just really proud to be part of this team with these guys”.
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Connor Jaeger gave the USA another silver in the 1,500 free, leaving the American with 33 swimming medals in Rio matching the highest total since the boycotted Los Angeles Games in 1984. Phelps finished in a three-way tie for silver with longtime rivals Chad le Clos of South Africa and Lazslo Cseh of Hungary.
“Being Michael requires such isolation, ” Ervin said. “My swimming career might be over, but I have this future ahead of me, and I can just turn the page and start whatever I want”.
Since he first took the Olympic plunge at the 2000 Sydney Games he has had an ambition to take swimming into the mainstream and there is no doubt the sport has enjoyed a much higher profile during his tenure as its leading figure. He swept the 100 and 200 butterfly at this year’s NCAA championships and swam on all three winning relays for the Longhorns.
People talk about the Phelps legacy, with some arguing his greatest contribution is yet to be realized with the list of pool performers he has inspired.
Shortly before what was advertised as the final performance of Michael Phelps’ extraterrestrial Olympics career, Phelps cradled a lifetime achievement award of sorts from FINA, the governing body of the sport.It declared him “The Greatest Olympic Athlete Of All Time”, a reasonable assertion that seemed particularly appropriate at the apparent end of an epic era. Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri (14:34.57) almost set a world record en route to the gold, while his countryman, Gabriele Detti (14:40.86), won the bronze.
“I don’t think he’ll give it up”, he continued.
“I’ve said this to some of you, it’s not done growing”, he told reporters when he qualified for Rio.
“It turned out pretty cool”, Phelps said, another gold medal around his neck.
Parzival’s temperature returned to normal and veterinarians cleared him to compete.
Phelps has finished these Rio Games with five gold medals and one silver. He’ll have to give back $150,000 United States to the National Sports Association for future training and development.
“Absolutely not. I’m not even looking. Hopefully, it changes all of sporting culture in Singapore”.
“Last warmup, last time putting on a suit, last time walking out in front of thousands of people representing my country it’s insane. I did this for them”, Schooling said. “When I went down, I thought, ‘Oh my God, that is it”.
He swam the breaststroke leg of the relay, in what might have been the last Olympic race of Michael Phelps’ storied career.
Simone Manuel, one of Team USA’s breakout stars of this meet, won two more medals Saturday night – a gold as the freestyle leg of the women’s medley relay and a silver in the 50 free – to go along with the historic gold she won in the 100 free, which made her the first African American female swimmer to win an individual Olympic medal.
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates after winning a men’s 100-meter heat during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016.
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His butterfly leg of the relay is his final event in Rio and he says he does not plan on attending the Olympics in 2020.
