The world's most successful Olympian took his
remarkable record to 21 gold medals on a stunning night for the United States
in the pool.
While Phelps won the 200-meter butterfly and the
US team took gold in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay, Katie Ledecky claimed her
second title of the Games.
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.
Four years on since losing his 200-meter Olympic
butterfly title, Phelps taught his rival Chad le Clos a brutal lesson.
The oldest individual gold medalist in Olympic
swimming history at 31, Phelps celebrated by hugging baby son Boomer after
taking in the adulation of a raucous crowd.
For Phelps, who quit the sport after London 2012
and then returned two years later, this was the moment he had been waiting for.
It was South Africa's le Clos who pipped him to
gold in London, inflicting a shock defeat on the American who had won the event
in 2004 and 2008.
Much of the talk ahead of the rematch in Rio had
centered on Phelps' revenge mission - and he did not disappoint - he smashed
it.
Phelps, racing away on the final length, finished
in a time of 1 minute 53.73 seconds with Japan's Masato Sakai taking silver and
Hungary's Tamas Kenderesi claiming bronze.
Le Clos, whose preparation for the Games has
largely been overshadowed by the news that both of his parents were diagnosed
with cancer, just missed out in fourth.
As the noise grew, Phelps stood tall and asked the
crowd for more.
He returned to the pool for the men's 4x200 meter
freestyle relay to ensure another gold medal ahead of Great Britain and Japan
in a thrilling finale.
Phelps, along with Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and
Townley Haas, celebrated after claiming his 25th Olympic medal before taking
time to rest.
Few could blame him after a hard night's work -
but while Phelps may be cooling down, Ledecky is only just getting started.
A little under two years after retiring at London
2012, where he took his collection of Olympic medals to 22 (18 of them gold)
and became the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps announced
that he was going back into training. And while celebrating his 31st birthday
end of June 2016, Michael Phelps brilliantly qualified in three individual
distances, plus possibly three relays, for the US Olympic swimming team at the
Trials in Omaha.
Serving notice that he still has what it takes,
the American legend then swam the fastest 200m individual medley, 100m
butterfly and 200m butterfly times of the year at the 2015 US National
Championships. Rio 2016will be the fifth Olympics of Phelps' stellar career,
though he is adamant they will also be his last.
Phelps began to forge his Olympic legend at the
age of 15, when he finished fifth in the 200m butterfly final at Sydney 2000.
Reflecting on that achievement, the ever-demanding swimmer said: "It was
great, I was fifth, that's a pretty big accomplishment. But I did not want it.
I wanted more. I was within half a second of medaling - it was literally, if I
would have taken it out a little bit faster, maybe I would have had a chance.
"There are reasons why I swam every holiday,
every Christmas, every birthday," added Phelps, explaining why he was the
most dedicated of swimmers. "I was trying to be as prepared as I could,
and I tried to see what I could really do and what my potential was. I just
really did kind of whatever it took. "
Phelps had won five world titles by the time he
opened his Olympic account at Athens 2004. Competing in eight events, he took
gold in the 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley and the
4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays with his USA team- mates, as well as bronze
in the 200m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay.
His eight-medal haul matched the single Summer
Games record set by Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin at Moscow 1980, while his
tally of gold's was only one fewer than the record seven won by his fellow
countryman Mark in the pool at Munich 1972.
"Everyone was comparing me to Mark Spitz. But
for me - I still say this a lot - it was never about beating Mark Spitz,
"said Phelps. "It never was. It was about becoming the first Michael
Phelps, not the second Mark Spitz. And that's truly what I always dreamt of as
a kid. I dreamt of doing something that no one had ever done before.
Michael Phelps claimed his second gold medal in
one night and the 21st of his career as the United States won the men's 4x200
meters Olympic freestyle relay on Tuesday.
The most successful Olympian of all time swam the
final leg to extend his career tally to a total of 25 medals, including two
silver and two bronze.
He won his 20th gold medal earlier in the day with
a victory in the 200m butterfly.
It was the fourth successive US Olympic victory in
the event.
The Americans led throughout, with Conor Dwyer
handing over to Townley Haas and Ryan Lochte. 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.
The Americans touched home in 7 minutes 00.66
seconds.
For Britain, who had qualified first for the
final, James Guy overhauled Takeshi Matsuda on the final leg to take the silver
in 7: 03.13, with Japan clocking 7: 03.50 for the Bronze.
It was Britain's first medal in the event since
they won a bronze in 1984, and made up for Guy's disappointment in failing to
pick up a medal in the 200m and 400m freestyle.
But the night belonged to the Americans and
Phelps, who after four days of competition in Rio, has won three gold medals at
his fifth Olympic Games.
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