{"id":489307,"date":"2022-09-15T04:13:53","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T11:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=489307"},"modified":"2022-09-15T10:43:38","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T17:43:38","slug":"great-races-the-end-of-the-michael-phelps-ryan-lochte-rivalry-when-phelps-managed-the-quad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/great-races-the-end-of-the-michael-phelps-ryan-lochte-rivalry-when-phelps-managed-the-quad\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Races: The End of the Michael Phelps-Ryan Lochte Rivalry; When Phelps Managed the Quad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great Races: The End of the Michael Phelps-Ryan Lochte Rivalry; When Phelps Managed the Quad<\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of Swimming World’s Great Races Series, we take a trip back to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the night Michael Phelps<\/strong> won a fourth consecutive Olympic title in the 200-meter individual medley. The event also marked the last meeting between Phelps and longtime rival Ryan Lochte<\/strong>. Here is the article from that night.<\/em><\/p>\n

One day, perhaps a production company will pay all the rights fees required for footage and mesh together a DVD. It can be titled, \u201cThe Greatest Rivalry.\u201d Care to guess the subject matter? Hint: It has to do with what unfolded \u2013 for the last time \u2013 on Night Six of the Olympic Games at the Rio Aquatics Centre.<\/p>\n

For more than a decade, we\u2019ve sat back and watched them entertain, rarely \u2013 if ever \u2013 providing something less than award-caliber stuff. If Part One of their show was a one-sided affair, it set the scene for what was to come. Part Two certainly brought more drama, the action scenes hitting their peak.<\/p>\n

Now, the curtain is closed.<\/p>\n

The Michael Phelps\u2013Ryan Lochte rivalry is no more, the last clash of the American superstars booked into history on Thursday night with Phelps capturing the 22nd gold medal of his career, and the 26th overall medal. Heading for a second retirement, Phelps left no doubt about the outcome, putting together another virtuoso performance that ended in a time of 1:54.66, the fourth-fastest of his career and No. 8 all-time for the 31-year-old. It was his 15th individual Olympic medal, breaking the Olympic record off 14, held by former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The bummer to the narrative was Lochte\u2019s fifth-place finish in 1:57.47, the 32-year-old unable to maintain his lead at the midway point and his third-place standing going into the final lap. Nonetheless, to discount Lochte\u2019s significance in the event, and to the best rivalry the sport has seen, would be a narrow-view focus. A career is not made on one race, but in totality, and Lochte\u2019s portfolio rates in the top 1%.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

With Phelps notching a 1.95-second margin of victory, not far off his record 2.29-second triumph from Beijing in 2008, the silver medal went to Japan\u2019s Kosuke Hagino<\/strong> in 1:56.61, the bronze to China\u2019s Wang Shun<\/strong><\/a> in 1:57.05.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of knew when I first started coming back that it wasn\u2019t going to be an easy process and I was going to force myself to go through pain I didn\u2019t really want to go through,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cBut if I wanted the end result, I had to. I was at a point in my life that I was ready to do that. I came back the heaviest I had ever been. I\u2019ve said it a bunch: I felt like a kid again. I felt like I did when I was 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was some of the best training of my life. That was the only reason I was able to get back to where I once was. To be able to race this level consistently. I can recall a grand prix in Charlotte, and I thought, \u2018what the hell am I doing back swimming again? I\u2019m terrible.\u2019 I was frustrated. But I decided to trust (coach Bob Bowman<\/strong>). For some reason, I trusted him when I was 11 years old and he\u2019s not let me down once since, and I knew he would not let me down this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, Phelps has restrained his emotions during the medals ceremony, a smile pretty much the extent of things. This week has been different. Tears appeared in his eyes during his first three ceremonies in Rio, but the medley elicited more, Phelps choking up at the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.<\/p>\n

It may not have been the fairytale end to the rivalry, but it wasn\u2019t without history. With his latest gold, Phelps became the first swimmer to win the same event at four consecutive Olympiads, acknowledging that achievement with a four-finger flash to the crowd of 14,000. Phelps joined fellow Americans Al Oerter<\/strong> (discus; 1956-68) and Carl Lewis<\/strong> (long jump; 1984-96) as the only Olympians to pull off The Quad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say this a lot, but every single day, I\u2019m living a dream come true,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cAs a kid, I wanted to do something that no one had ever done before, and I\u2019m enjoying it. Being able to finish how I want is just something very special to me, and this is why you are seeing more and more emotion on the medal podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if the last faceoff wasn\u2019t epic, Phelps and Lochte engaged in a spectacular two-man act for a 12-year period that began in 2004. The show came off Broadway for a brief while, when Phelps retired following the London Games in 2012, but it was rekindled in time for a final run.<\/p>\n

The finale was watched by millions across the globe, and while there was the occasional guest appearance (Hagino of late and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh<\/strong> in earlier episodes), Phelps and Lochte did just fine manning the spotlight by themselves.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p><\/div>\n

In the Playbill for their last showdown, a special section could be found that detailed their extraordinary success. Updated after Phelps\u2019 victory, it reads as such:<\/p>\n