Michael Phelps claimed his 22nd Olympic gold medal and his fourth at the Olympics.
Michael Phelps keep on collecting gold medals in Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On Thursday (Brazil Time), Phelps seized another slice of Olympic history with a dominant victory in the 200m individual medley at the Rio Games, his fourth straight in the event.
The US star claimed the 22nd Olympic gold of his Olympic career after powering past the opposition in the final of the 200-meter individual medley.
Phelps became the third Olympian to win the same individual event at four straight Games, joining discus thrower Al Oerter and Carl Lewis in the long jump in achieving the feat.
Lurking in second until the end of the breaststroke third leg, he surged home on the closing freestyle lap to win in 1min 54.66sec.
That was almost two seconds in front of silver medallist Kosuke Hagino of Japan, the 400m individual medley champion who powered from fifth at the final wall to touch in 1:56.61.
China’s Wang Shun was third in 1:57.05.
Phelps’ old foe Ryan Lochte led at the halfway point, but the world record-holder in the event couldn’t hang on and finished fifth.
Brazilian contender Thiago Pereira, buoyed by an ecstatic crowd, led after the opening butterfly lap and was equal second at the halfway point, but faded to finish seventh.
The win gave Phelps his 13th individual gold medal–an Olympic record that burnishes his title as the world’s most decorated Olympian.
The 31-year-old, who is set to retire after the Games, could end up with five gold medals by the end of the competition.
He almost fell into despair after a DUI arrest in late 2014. But he’s since turned his life around, proposing to his girlfriend in February 2015; his son, Boomer, was born in May.
The most decorated Olympian of all time wasn’t the only one to make history and the world has never seen an athletic exit like this.