Joseph Schooling of Singapore, the surprise victor of the men’s 100-meter butterfly, was delighted to share the podium with silver medalists Phelps, Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh, three swimmers who “changed the face of our sport”.
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“I think what it means is we have just a great sporting culture and a really unbelievable system of sport in our country”, said Alan Ashley, the USOC chief of sport performance.
“This is Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal ever and also our first medal for the Rio Olympics”, he wrote in a post that gathered tens of thousands of likes and comments.
On Friday he set a new Olympic record of 50.39 seconds.
“I apologize”, he said. “I was a little bummed about my performance, but I was happy for him to get a gold and get one for Team USA”.
Friedman later apologised on twitter for the gaffe. It is an incredible feat to compete among the world’s best – stay focused and emerge victorious.
Schooling, who took bronze at last year’s world championships, punched the water and roared with delight as Phelps swam over to pat him on the back before le Clos ruffled the youngster’s hair. But we heard from all in Canada how wonderful you are. “So, Michael, I’ll see you in Tokyo”.
“He said he’s going to retire after 2012, and I was the only one that said he’d come back”, Lochte said about Phelps. “And that’s why he won first place”.
Oli To thinks it must have been “a dream come true” for the Singapore swimmer.
The previous record holder for over two millennia was Leonidas of Rhodes, who won 12 individual events over the course of four Olympics – 164 B.C., 160 B.C., 156 B.C. and 152 B.C. – earning his last three golds in the stadion (a 200-meter sprint), the diaulos (a 400-meter run) and the hoplite race (a race in armor).
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“Their difference in timing was only a fraction of a second”.
