Jennifer Lukas, CTVOlympics.ca
The ink was not yet dry on Michael Phelps's 19-medal record when he picked up his 20th on Thursday night.
Two nights after the American swimmer surpassed Soviet gymnast Larisa
Latynina to become the most decorated Olympian of all time, he won his
first individual gold medal of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the
men's 200-metre individual medley.
With the win, Phelps set yet another record: he became the first male
swimmer to win the same Olympic title at three consecutive Games.
The 27-year-old got off to a slow start at these Games, his last, with a
surprising and disappointing fourth-place finish in the men's 400m IM
on Day 1 of the London event.
His mouth seemed etched in a grim line after that, the first time Phelps
had failed in an attempt to reach the Olympic podium since the 2000
Games in Sydney.
"It was just a crappy race," he told reporters at the time.
But Phelps looked a different swimmer in Thursday's final, his shoulders
almost visibly higher without the weight of his 19-medal goal.
Phelps swam the 200m IM final in lane five next to rival and teammate
Ryan Lochte. The two American swimmers have traded wins in this event in
recent years, with Phelps holding the 2008 Olympic title in the event,
and Lochte, title from a world-record breaking 2011 Worlds.
At their last meeting, Phelps edged Lochte, also 27, to the wall at the
U.S. Olympic swimming trials in June. Phelps won that showdown by
nine-hundredths of a second -- barely a fingernail.
Ahead of the final showdown, Phelps drew his rival aside.
"I
said to him in the meet room, 'This is our last 200m of the meet and
our last 200m together,'" he said. "We were just joking around, just
laughing about it. Ryan has probably been one of the toughest
competitors ever to swim against."
With a strong start off the blocks on Thursday, Phelps was the first
swimmer to complete the butterfly portion of his four-stroke race.
Lochte, who had the opportunity to win two gold medals within a
35-minute span on Thursday, had already fallen markedly short in that
quest. In his first event on the night before his 28th birthday, the
200m backstroke had finished a disappointing third.
And as he completed the first three lengths of his last race of the
London 2012 Olympic Games, the 10-time Olympic medallist found himself
in third place yet again. Trailing behind both Phelps and Hungarian
Laszlo Cseh, Lochte was almost a full second out of the lead.
It was then that the Phelps vs. Lochte duel in the pool finally began to take shape.
The reigning world record holder, Lochte turned on the speed in the
final stretch to overtake Cseh and challenge Phelps for the lead.
But it was too little too late from the near-28-year-old, simply unable to catch his decorated American teammate.
Phelps touched the wall first by almost two strokes, posting a time of
one minute, 54.27 seconds for the win. His time was just 0.27 seconds
off the world record Lochte set at the 2011 Worlds and four-hundredths
of a second off his own pace from Beijing 2008.
"If somebody told
me with 25m to go, I was under world-record pace?" Phelps began, "It's
kind of frustrating to be a little short but to be able to win the gold
medal and repeat three times is something pretty special.
"I'm pretty pleased with gold."
Lochte finished second in 1:54.90, missing the gold medal for his second
straight race on Thursday night, while Cseh was third with a time of
1:56.22.
"It was really difficult," Lochte said of his attempted double. "But you
know what? It's what I've been training for for the past four years and
I can't really be upset. I'm coming home to my country with five
Olympic medals."
Phelps lingered in his victory lap around the
pool, his 16th gold medal dangling around his neck as he smiled and
waved to the crowd.
Scheduled to race in the 100m butterfly semi-final not long after, he was soon herded towards the ready room.
Phelps
continued his momentum into the semi-final race, posting the fastest
time of the two heats to advance into Friday's final. Phelps will race
his final event, the 4x100m medley relay, on Saturday. He has said he
will retire following these London Games.
"This is my last semi-final race," he said. "It's my last of everything."
