“I honestly I don’t know at this very moment where that stands”, Phelps said when asked how it compared to some of his other great nights in the pool.
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Phelps won a 20th Olympic gold – and 12th individual title – with a dominant victory in his signature event, the 200 metres butterfly, before anchoring the United States to gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Both Phelps and Ledecky have dominated in the pool but it was the main man who commanded the attention after exorcising his demons of yesteryear.
Phelps, who would have had four successive wins in the 200 butterfly but for that London race, has now amassed a record-extending 25 Olympic medals.
Much of the talk ahead of the rematch in Rio had centered on Phelps’ revenge mission – and he didn’t disappoint – he smashed it. There was a huge roar from the Rio crowd when Phelps sprang from the block with a lead of 1.76 seconds over Japan, and 2.88 seconds over Britain.
Defending champion Le Clos, whose run-up to the Games was overshadowed by the devastating news that both of his parents had been diagnosed with cancer, finished an agonising fourth. “I didn’t say anything to anyone else, but there wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing it”.
The American phenom, who won the 400m title with a stunning world record on day two, clocked 1:53.73 to win by 0.35 seconds from Sjostrom.
Few could blame him after a hard night’s work – but while Phelps may be cooling down, Ledecky is only just getting started.
Ledecky scooped her second gold of the Games after holding off a fearless charge from Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom in the women’s 200m freestyle.
But the 31-year-old American powered home to win in a time of 1:53.36 to avenge his London defeat to Le Clos and add yet another gold to his personal career tally.
“That hurt pretty badly”, she told reporters after the race.
“Kind of having that come to an end, it’s insane to think about”. I was just glad to get my hand on the wall first. By his own admission, Michael Phelps could not have scripted it better as he won back the title closest to his heart on an evening of pure gold for the most medalled Olympic athlete of all time.
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The Hungarian known as the “Iron Lady” earned her third gold medal of the Rio Games with a victory in the 200 individual medley.
