All eyes were on 200m butterfly tonight, as Michael Phelps was set to rewrite history against South African Chad le Clos.
Both swimmers added to their rivalry back in the 2012 Olympics, as Clos beat Phelps in the same event. The difference between winning gold and silver was decided by .05 seconds!
This time Phelps did more than rewrite history. The Olympic swimming legend came away with the TWO gold medals during the 200m butterfly and 800 freestyle relay on the same night!
Michael took the gold for the 200m event with the time of 1:53.36. The record breaker however did not beat his time of 1:51.51 set in 2009.
It was a close match nonetheless as Japan’s Masato Sakai won silver in 1:53.40. The slightest of margins could have ended this match with Team USA adding another silver medal to their count. Hungary’s Tamas Kenderesi took the bronze at 1:53.62.
le Clos on the other hand placed fourth in the 200m butterfly.
More than an hour after winning his first gold of the night, Team USA was ready to do the same in the 800 freestyle relay.
Michael teamed with Conor Dwyer, Townley Haas and legend Ryan Lochte to win the event in 7:00.66. Phelps at first was not selected to compete in the event due to under performing in the 200 free time. But his performance during the 400 free relay on Sunday made him a lock for the 800.
USA came away with the time of in 7:00.66 in the event, with Phelps swimming the anchor leg. Great Britain won silver in 7:03.13 while Japan took bronze in 7:03.50.
Phelps has won gold in his first three events, with three more remaining.
https://youtu.be/sN8UZiPECZI
