Lochte’s time was 1:57.47, well off his world-record of 1:54.00 set at the 2011 World Championships.
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It was yet another extraordinary swim for Phelps, 31, who has won two individual and two relay golds at his fifth Olympics, two years after coming out of retirement.
“He’s not quitting. He tells me he’s enjoying it too much”, Steve Lochte said.
Lochte echoed the sentiment.
After tinkering away at building a lead, over the final 50 meters, the freestyle leg, Phelps took off.
Michael Phelps added to the record books with Olympic gold medal No. 22.
For 13 years, the veteran swimmers have dominated the 200-meter individual medley, CBSSports.com reported.
Phelps told NBC that he’d had “probably about five hours” of sleep the night before the qualifying round, admitting that he was “a little exhausted, but as long as I’m not sore, it’s good”.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Towson Patch. “And Phelps might not even make the podium!”
Phelps rival Ryan Lochte did not medal.
“I do feel like I talk to him more and joke around with him more than I really did in the past”, Phelps said.
The other two medalists in Thursday’s 200-meter medley were Kosuke Hagino from Japan, who won silver, and Wang Shun of China, who took the bronze.
A rather confused Elliotte Friedman “got my lanes mixed up” and covered the entire race hailing it as a historic win for Lochte.
Phelps won the USA’s second gold of the night in the pool, after Ryan Murphy completed a sweep of the men’s backstroke events, winning the 200m.
“I’ve always said don’t judge me when I’m running like a lion, judge me when my back’s against the wall”. With the win, Manuel became the first African-American woman to win gold in an individual swimming event.
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Phelps is the second American swimmer to appear in five Olympic Games, matching Dara Torres.
