{"id":217223,"date":"2016-08-09T22:33:54","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T05:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=217223"},"modified":"2016-08-09T22:41:44","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T05:41:44","slug":"michael-phelps-takes-back-the-gold-medal-that-mattered-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/michael-phelps-takes-back-the-gold-medal-that-mattered-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Phelps Takes Back the Gold Medal That Mattered Most"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder.<\/em><\/p>\n

For all of the different events Michael Phelps\u00a0<\/strong>has\u00a0raced\u2014and won\u2014over the years, one of them always meant more than any other: the one in which he made his first Olympic team and Olympic final, the one in which he broke his first world record, the one in which he won his first World title.<\/p>\n

Phelps dominated the 200 fly for a decade, winning one World title in 2007 by a full three seconds while breaking the world record by more than a second and a half. A year later, as part of his eight-gold-medal performance in Beijing, Phelps won gold and broke the world record with his goggles filled with water.<\/p>\n

Phelps faced his challenges along the way, from Laszlo Cseh<\/strong> to Takeshi Matsuda<\/strong> to Wu Peng<\/strong>. But when it mattered, he beat all of them.<\/p>\n

That is, until the Olympics in London. Phelps was aiming to become the first man to win three straight gold medals in one event, and even with Matsuda and Chad le Clos<\/strong> closing hard, Phelps would surely get his hand on the wall. He always seemed to do that.<\/p>\n

But this time, he did not.<\/p>\n

Le Clos won gold in 1:52.96, and Phelps settled for silver in 1:53.01. And even though Phelps would rebound and end up winning gold in each of his four remaining races at those Games, he seemed resigned to going into retirement having lost his grip on the 200 fly.<\/p>\n

But then Phelps came back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened four years ago stuck with me,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cThat was a frustrating race.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he finally returned to the 200 fly in 2015, Phelps was driven to put on a show. He showed up to U.S. Nationals in August of 2015 and posted the fastest time in the world all year, 1:52.94. It was vintage Phelps, a version that had been seen only sparingly since his legendary performance in Beijing in 2008.<\/p>\n

The next day, at the World Championships in Kazan, le Clos opened his mouth. After winning the World title in the 100 fly in 50.56, he quickly informed the press that Phelps needed to be quiet since he had not swum so fast in six years.<\/p>\n

Back in San Antonio, Phelps promptly dropped a 50.45.<\/p>\n

As the two prepared to meet again in the 200 fly in Rio, le Clos did not seem to get the message\u2014he kept seeking Phelps\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

Phelps had struggled in the 200 fly most of the season, fading badly down the last 50 at U.S. Olympic Trials, even if he held on to win the event. He entered the Olympics ranked sixth in the world at 1:54.84.<\/p>\n

And le Clos looked ready to blast a big one, especially after he won the silver Monday night in the 200 free in 1:45.30. An hour later, as he and Phelps prepared for their 200 fly semifinal, le Clos intentionally performed a shadowboxing routine right in Phelps\u2019 face.<\/p>\n

Under his hood, Phelps scowled\u2014and so was born the \u201cPhelps Face.\u201d The swimmer who beat him for gold four years ago\u2014and hadn\u2019t stopped running his mouth in the years since\u2014was showing off in front of him. If he needed any more motivation to recapture that gold medal, he had it.<\/p>\n

Phelps got through the semifinals as the No. 2 qualifier, and in the final, he took the race out hard. Le Clos was in pursuit, but Phelps led by almost seven tenths of a second at the 150.<\/p>\n

And then, Phelps hit the proverbial brick wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last 10 meters were not fun,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cI thought I was standing still.\u201d<\/p>\n

Le Clos, too, had faded, but the threat was unseen\u2014up in lane seven, Japan\u2019s Masato Sakai<\/strong>, a full decade Phelps\u2019 junior, was coming on strong. As he came into the wall, Phelps was caught between strokes and made the split-second decision.<\/p>\n

As he did in the 100 fly in Beijing, Phelps chose the half-stroke. And once again, it worked. Phelps won gold in 1:53.36, and Sakai settled for the silver in 1:53.40.<\/p>\n

Phelps admitted that it wasn\u2019t until the award ceremony that he realized how close the finish had been.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care about the time,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cI\u2019m just happy I was able to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps got up on the lane line, wagged his finger and flexed. The full spectrum of emotions came through until he received his gold medal, and cameras caught a tear running down Phelps\u2019 face as he raised his arms to the thunderous applause of the crowd, soaking it all in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat event was kind of my bread-and-butter,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cThat was the last time I\u2019ll ever swim it. Having that come to an end\u2014it\u2019s weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob Bowman<\/strong>, Phelps\u2019 longtime coach and the head coach of the U.S. men\u2019s Olympic team, called the swim his second favorite of Phelps\u2019 Olympic gold medals, behind just his first, the 400 IM in Athens 12 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get old watching him win,\u201d said Maya DiRado<\/strong>, fresh off a medal-winning performance of her own in the women\u2019s 200 IM. \u201cYou think he\u2019s seizing up on his last stroke, and you turn around, and he did it. He got his hand on the wall because that\u2019s just what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps crafted the storybook ending to his journey with the 200 fly, but the night\u2019s business was not yet complete, as Phelps was assigned anchor duties on the American men\u2019s 800 free relay.<\/p>\n

Phelps was gassed\u2014he admitted to asking teammates Conor Dwyer<\/strong>, Townley Haas<\/strong> and Ryan Lochte<\/strong> to spot him a big lead\u2014but he gutted out a 1:45.26 split to bring the Americans home for their fourth-straight Olympic gold in that relay.<\/p>\n

When the night was done, Phelps had added a few more accomplishments to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2014he tied Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina<\/strong> for the most individual Olympic medals ever\u2014with a chance to add two more in the next three days\u2014and his win in the 200 fly made him the oldest ever individual gold medalist in swimming. He won 21 gold medals in his career, and still, no one else has more than nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of medals,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cIt\u2019s just insane. It\u2019s mind-blowing to me to think about when this all started and the things [Bowman and I] have been able to do together in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Phelps finished his press conference, he received applause from the packed room of journalists as he scampered out of the room, his focus on the impending preliminary swim in the 200 IM just hours away. But the final story on Phelps at these Games has still yet to be written\u2014he has the 200 IM, 100 fly and 400 medley relay still to go, and with the form he\u2019s shown so far, it would not be at all surprising to see him win all three.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has proven that he is easily the greatest swimmer of all time with his performances,\u201d Dwyer said. \u201cOnce that guy gets hot, you can\u2019t really stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to view full results from day four finals.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder. For all of the different events Michael Phelps\u00a0has\u00a0raced\u2014and won\u2014over the years, one of them always meant more than any other: the one in which he made 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