Michael Phelps still has 3 categories to compete at the Rio Olympics.
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With challengers all around, he simply wouldn’t be denied.
When Phelps saw the “1” by his name, he held up one finger. It came on a night that American teammate Katie Ledecky picked up her second gold of the Rio Olympics on the way to what could be a historic run of her own in the pool.
Phelps touched the wall in one minute, 53.36 seconds, slower than his 2012 silver medal performance, with Sakai finishing in 1:53.40.
JUDO HISTORY: Hungarian-born Szandra Szogedi made history when she stepped onto the judo mat to become the first judoka to represent Ghana – she obtained citizenship through her husband.
Tonight, Phelps has the 200m butterfly final – where he’ll try to reclaim his gold from rival Chad le Clos of South Africa – at about 9:25 p.m. ET.
Vision of his game face when confronted by Le Clos in the marshalling yard showed just how much this race meant to him.
Phelps now has 25 medals in all, and three more races in Rio to add to his nearly unimaginable total.
Hosszu was not the only swimmer to set an Olympic record on Tuesday.
Ledecky struck in the third 50, opening an immediate lead. Tamas Kenderesi of Hungary won the bronze medal in 1:53.62. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden claimed the silver and Emma McKeon of Australia took the bronze.
“That hurt pretty badly”, she told reporters after the race.
“It’s the closest I’ve come to throwing up at the end of a race”.
“Nothing. I’ve been getting on that Snapchat game”. She crushed the world record in the 400 and everyone expects her to do the same in the 800.
This may be the shortest race on Ledecky’s program but it’s definitely her toughest, requiring both speed and endurance against a far more competitive field. “The more you race against the best stars in the world, the more confidence you get”. “But I won’t. I’m going to let what I do in the pool do my talking”.
The U.S. team has now won the event for the past four Olympic Games, beginning in Athens in 2004.
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Phelps was not finished there, however, and went on to help the United States to a fourth successive victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay, alongside Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Townley Haas.
