After losing to Brazil in the gold medal match in back-to-back Olympics, the USA women will look to win the nation’s first ever Olympic gold in the competition.
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“On the block I thought my heart was going to explode, I was so hyped, so excited”, said Phelps, competing in his fifth Olympics.
Arms aloft and waving his finger, Michael Phelps left nobody in doubt just who was No. 1 Tuesday.
“She has a lot more in her”, Smith said.
“May the best man win”, he said.
Ryan Held kept the Americans in front before giving way to Nathan Adrian, the nation’s best sprinter. “This is a race I really wanted back”.
Le Clos shadowboxed while Phelps, wearing a hooded jacket, sat on a folding chair and did a death stare into his South African rival’s back.
It’s not an ideal distance for her, but just to show how dominating she is, she managed a narrow victory over Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom by.35 seconds, in a time of 1 minute, 53.73 seconds.
It was quite a night for the Americans, who were shut out on the golds on the opening night of swimming.
Also in action Tuesday will be Ryan Lochte, swimming his first Rio race as part of the US men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team, and Maya DiRado, who claimed silver in the women’s 400m individual medley on Saturday and has a chance to add a second medal in Tuesday’s 200m IM final.
The result was totally expected. It was the 12th world record she has set since the 2012 Olympics, when she won the 800 free as a 15-year-old.
The world record of 1:52.98, set in 2009 at the height of the rubberized suit era, could not be touched.
Simone Biles led the US gymnasts to a victory of historic proportions in the women’s team final, setting the stage for additional gold she’s expected to capture later this week in individual events. That tournament was to have marked his comeback after a one-year ban for cocaine use.
In the end, Phelps won a riveting race, finishing with a time of 1:53.36 to earn his 24th Olympic medal. “I knew I was due for a breakthrough”. Walsh Jennings comes to Rio just a year removed from a serious shoulder injury that sidelined her most of the fall.
On Monday night, the 19-year-old sensation swam in the second semifinal heat of the 200-meter freestyle. She is the runaway favorite in the 800m freestyle as the defending Olympic champion in the event – preliminary heats begin Thursday – and she is expected to be named to the 4x200m freestyle relay team, racing Wednesday.
It was a night of world records in Rio.
Still, Ledecky found herself using too high a tempo in Monday’s semifinal, when she was second to Sjostrom.
In all, six world records have fallen on the first two days of swimming.
In a reminder of doping controversies that dogged the build-up to Rio, there were loud boos for Russian breaststroker Yulia Efimova and the men’s relay team.
He’s still got three individual events, and will surely swim two more relays. He got misty-eyed on the medal podium as the national anthem played and the American flag rose up the flagpole. “I like to stay out of that”, she said.
This is not the first time that Van Gelder has run into disciplinary problems.
After Ledecky got off to a slow start, she wound up capturing the Gold medal after narrowly beating out Sjostrom.
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At age 31, the guy can still amaze.
