Michael Phelps (USA) of USA poses with his silver medal during victory ceremony of Men’s 100m Butterfly at Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 12, 2016.
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In their signature race Thursday night, the 200 IM, Phelps won gold and Lochte came in fifth, looking very much like a 32-year-old who exhausted at the finish.
Schooling remembered being “shell-shocked” when his hero Phelps visited his swimming club. For both the men and the women, as Michael Phelps added another gold and Simone Manuel won gold in a dead heat. “I did my best time, and I raced the two greatest 200-meter swimmers of all time, so I am happy”, said Phelps.
“This moment is not about me, it’s all about my coaches my friends my family that believed that when I was a six year old kid that I could do it”, he said.
“That would be wonderful”, Debbie Phelps said later in the broadcast.
I’m sure the announcers at the CBC strive for accuracy, but they really messed this one up. “I’m ready to spend some time with Boomer (son) and Nicole (partner)”.
While on the topic, it’s also reasonable to wonder whether Lochte will return for the 2020 Games.
He was lauded by the Rio crowd with one banner proclaiming “Phelps Greatest Olympian Ever” and Phelps swayed slightly and breathed deeply as he listened to the US anthem at the victory ceremony with his eyes moist.
“Michael, I’ll see you in Tokyo”.
In Thursday night’s 200-meter individual medley, Phelps bested Lochte and the field to win his record 22nd Olympic gold. Below, a summary of the times that Michael Phelps stood on the lower platforms of an Olympic podium.
“It’s been a tough road, I’m not going to lie, the first guy through the wall, it’s always bloody”, he said. Singapore’s Joseph Schooling won gold.
Phelps settled for silver along with two longtime rivals, Le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo of Hungary.
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Meyer took the 200m, 400m and 800m at the 1968 Mexico Games, and Ledecky matched that performance with a couple of world records as well.
