Phelps came in second, earning a silver on 51.14 seconds – tied with South Africa’s Chad Le Clos and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.
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Schooling hopes this will be the first of many golds to come for Singapore, and looks to pave the way for more talented Singaporean swimmers to find success.
With team mate Anthony Ervin winning the 50 freestyle gold on Friday at the age of 35, 16 years after he first won it, there will always be those who wonder if the 31-year-old Phelps might do another tumble turn and turn up in Tokyo in 2020.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also took to Facebook to congratulate the new Olympian.
But he had looked unstoppable in Rio, at least until Asian champion Schooling floored him in the 100m fly, an event he had won at the past three Games. I’m in a better state of mind this time than I was four years ago.
“Onward Singapore, Joseph Schooling has brought pride to our home”.
“If I cry in front of all of you all, it s because I have nothing to be ashamed of”, he told reporters.
Phelps, who was denied a fourth successive gold in the 100m butterfly by Schooling, will end his Olympic career by competing in the final race in the Rio pool.
“You made us very proud today”.
Historically Phelps’ toughest competition (his margin of victory in the past can be measured in the hundredths of a second), he tied for second place behind Schooling, who swam representing Singapore.
“I can really see that he put in a lot of hardwork and effort”.
Keith Power said: “Just shows the influence sports stars can have on impressionable young minds”.
Phelps has already amassed three golds at the Rio Games and has other priorities, balancing the need to qualify comfortably without damaging his chances for the evening men’s 200m individual medley final.
In 2014, Colin Schooling dismissed stubborn speculation that his son was a “foreign talent” because of his surname – declaring that Joseph, a third-generation Singaporean, was a true son of the republic.
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“Their difference in timing was only a fraction of a second”.
