RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Katie Ledecky has never felt such pain.
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Michael Phelps takes center stage on Tuesday night in Rio. A child is the most lovely medal.
What if Phelps is the male Ledecky?
Ledecky described the race as grueling, saying she “hurt really badly” and pushed herself “to the max”. The victory clearly delighted Phelps, who held up one finger, then sat on a lane rope and egged on the roaring crowd at the Olympic Aquatic Stadium.
US team mate and Olympic champion Missy Franklin, who won a relay gold on Wednesday despite not being selected for the final, made the cut with the 11th fastest time. The only time Team USA hasn’t won the event was 2008 in Beijing, when it picked up bronze.
Phelps qualified fourth fastest in 51.60 seconds for the 100 fly. A teammate helped him find a replacement.
“I’m so exhausted I can’t even think straight”, Phelps said an hour later.
Australia’s Emma McKeon took the bronze with a time of 1:54.92. Canada took the bronze in 7:45.39.
It was another performance for the ages, but Phelps has done it so many times that nothing else would have been fitting.
The incoming Stanford freshman has emerged at the 2016 Summer Olympics as one of history’s greatest freestyle swimmers.
She is the first female Cavalier swimmer to earn two Olympic medals and the second overall, joining Ed Moses in 2000 (gold with 4x100m medley relay, silver in 100m breaststroke).
“I did come pretty close to throwing up”. “I couldn’t have gone any faster, it’s impossible”.
Biles, Raisman and Douglas finished first, second and third, respectively, in qualifying, setting up a daunting task for any other nation to challenge the USA and making the show they put on a must-see event. He ended up taking what looked to be a very deep breath. Then, during the customary stroll around the pool to pose for photographers, Phelps broke ranks and bounded into the stands to plant a kiss on Boomer, the son who symbolizes just how much Phelps’ life has changed since a second drunken-driving arrest two years ago.
United States’ Michael Phelps competes during a men’s 100-meter butterfly heat during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She had five double-faults in one game alone in the 6-4, 6-3 loss to the 20th-ranked Svitolina.
Phelps posted a time of 1 minute 53.36 seconds, which was enough to hold off Masato Sakai of Japan, whose 1:53.40 was 0.04 seconds behind Phelps.
So coaches and teammates weren’t panicking Tuesday night when Ledecky jetted off the blocks in the final leg of the women’s 800-meter freestyle relay nearly a second behind Australia.
Tuesday’s other gold medallist was Katinka Hosszu, who set a new Olympic record in beating Siobhan-Marie O’Connor by three tenths of a second in the women’s 200m individual medley final.
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Although Michael Phelps’ almost back-to-back wins in the men’s 200m butterfly (which, to the delight of #PhelpsFace fans, concluded with Chad le Clos in fourth place) and the 4x200m freestyle relay cemented Team USA’s position atop the Olympic medal count standings, the Baltimore native wasn’t the only member of the nation’s delegation to bring home gold on day four. China has the second-most medals, with 17.
