On another, he was arrested after leaving a casino and racing home at 85mph in a 45mph zone in his Range Rover – nearly two times over the legal limit.
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Phelps essentially spent the next 100 seconds or so soaking up the cheers.
The one-time American hero was close to going to jail and a judge warned him he was “powerless over alcohol”.
The achievements of Leonidas rely on somewhat sketchier accounts, provided much later by Philostratus the Athenian and Pausanias who hailed the runner’s 12 victories through four Olympiads. It had been billed as the “showdown in Rio” and was the hottest ticket in town.
Below is all the information needed to see Phelps swim for his fourth gold medal in this event. I had no idea whether I touched first. It might well be the most anticipated race of these Games. Hometown favorite Thiago Pereira of Brazil finished third in the heat (1:57.11).
“That event is kind of like my bread and butter”, Phelps told reporters. “I’ve been able to put my body through things like this over the years and hopefully I can keep it going one last time”.
“This is the race I really wanted back”, he said. And if I did, I was leaving everything in the pool’.
Milking the acclaim of the crowd, Phelps climbed, Wimbledon tennis-style, past a bank of poolside photographers to kiss little Boomer and fiancee Nicole Johnson after an emotional medals ceremony.
Years before people were lining up for Katie Ledecky’s autograph, she was a young fan herself just trying to get a souvenir from swimming royalty.
Since the women’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay made its Olympic debut in 1996, the Americans have won the event in every Olympic Games but one.
Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and Katie Ledecky of the USA struck further blows for girl power, but again it was all about Phelps, who later anchored the American 4x200M freestyle relay team to gold as the clock edged toward midnight.
The 200-meter butterfly was the first race he swam at an Olympics, at Sydney, Australia, in 2000.
Besides Franklin and Schmitt, the Olympic record-breaking 4x200m free team in 2012 also featured Dana Vollmer and Shannon Vreeland.
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Now, here he is after Michael won his 20th gold..
