Ryan Lochte: ‘I guarantee’ Michael Phelps will compete in 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 11: Michael Phelps described his rivalry with Ryan Lochte as “special” as the U.S. teammates prepare to go head-to-head in another Olympic swimming final on Thursday.

Ledecky turned in a split of 1 minute, 53.74 seconds, which was almost 2 1-2 seconds faster than her next-fastest teammate, Allison Schmitt in 1:56.21.

The 31-year-old Phelps moved on to the evening semifinals, carrying on his bid to become a four-time champion in an event he first won at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

There was little time to savour the moment, however, as he raced back off the pool deck to get ready for the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly, which he also has the chance to win for a fourth successive Games. It appeared to be the last dance of their 12-year run of bringing out the best in each other, as they like to put it.

Ma, the reigning world champion, came into the tournament expected to win, and he dismantled Zhang, whose first name was inspired by Brazilian soccer star Zico.

Joseph Schooling of Singapore built a big lead in the 100-meter butterfly and easily held off one of Phelps’ patented comebacks, leaving him at 22 gold medals with one race, a relay, left to go. Evgeny Rylov was the leading qualifier in 1 minute, 54.45 seconds. The American swimmer now has won two individual and two relay golds at his fifth Olympics, raising his medal count to 26, including two silvers and two bronzes. This will likely be the final time these two compete, as Phelps has said he’s all but assuredly done with competitive swimming after these Games.

Franklin received a gold medal for being a part of the preliminary team.

Rie Kaneto of Japan pulled away from Yulia Efimova to take gold in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke at the Rio Olympics. The 100 back was an event that comes a little bit more natural. Another American, Nathan Adrian, took the bronze.

Whether you want to watch Phelps and Lochte go for gold or want to catch something else, NBC Sports will have you covered with a live stream of it all. We needed to get them a good lane tonight.

Anthony Ervin capped a remarkable personal journey with a gold in the 50 freestyle – 16 years after he won his first individual gold in the same event at the Sydney Games.