By Rosalba O’Brien
LONDON Aug 2 (Reuters) – A reinvigorated Michael Phelps,
the most successful Olympian of all time, showed the pretender
to his crown Chad Le Clos how it’s done as he took gold in his
last individual race.
Three days previously, South Africa’s Le Clos had astonished
the Aquatics Centre by beating his hero Phelps into second place
in the 200 metre butterfly, and it looked like Phelps’ reign was
already over.
But Phelps, riding high on a gold medal from Thursday night,
reminded the world on Friday of his incredible talent and
determination as he came back from seventh at the halfway point
to take gold in the 100m butterfly, 0.23 seconds ahead of Le
Clos.
If it rankled, the amiable Le Clos showed no sign. For him,
it was an honour just to be there.
“When I was racing I was racing for the gold but I’m just
thankful that I had the opportunity to race another Olympics
final and live my dream of racing with Michael,” he said to
reporters.
“But he got me this time.”
Phelps has repeatedly praised first-time Olympian Le Clos,
his competitiveness and his ability to swim multiple events and
distances.
“It’s going to be fun to watch Chad and see what he does
over the next couple of years,” he said.
Continued…
