Phelps Back on Top in 200m IM
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."
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