Phelps photo inspires Olympic gold medalist Rose

Michael Phelps finished the Rio Olympics, and nearly certainly his Olympic swimming career, fittingly, with one final gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay on Saturday night, having teamed up with fellow Americans Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, and Nathan Adrian. Only after a second drunken-driving arrest and six weeks of inpatient therapy did Phelps reconnect with his dad, who cheered on his son a month ago at the U.S. Olympic trials but wasn’t able to travel to Brazil. Even that statistic seemed to pale against the irrepressible Phelps – and likewise Ryan Murphy’s leadoff backstroke leg, which set a new 100m world record of 51.85. “This is it. I said it before, but you guys can say, this is the last time”.

In Rio, where he took his Olympic tally to a staggering 28 medals – he also won three silvers and two bronze – it was apparent he was not just going through the motions at all.

Now though he is categorical that he will not be making another comeback.

The 21-year-old Asian champion denied Olympic icon Phelps a fourth straight victory in the event, leading from start to finish to win in an Olympic record of 50.39sec.

Phelps says felt the emotional weight of his career coming to an end during the finals for Sunday’s 4x100m medley relay, his final event.

“He’s too special. It’s not even once in a generation – it may be once in 10 generations that someone like Michael comes along”.

The race came minutes after the 4×100 medley relay by the USA team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel, who won the gold with a time of 3:53.13. Katie Ledecky, the 19-year-old sensation who won four gold medals at these Games, posed for a photograph with Phelps and got his autograph when she was 9.

Australia came up second with a time of 3:55.00 to take silver and Denmark rounded out the podium one-hundredth of a second later. “One thousand gold medals is a remarkable achievement made possible by the culture of sport that is the fabric and foundation of Team USA”, United States Olympic Committee (USOC) head Scott Blackmun said.

“Part of our mentality was just to keep our eyes forward and play as hard as we could and take care of our business”, Rose said. Simone Manuel of the US earned another Olympic medal in the pool, this one a silver in the women’s 50-meter freestyle.

Phelps, 31, insists he won’t be back for a sixth Olympics. Connor Jaeger of the U.S. took the silver, and Paltinieri’s countryman Gabriele Detti increased Italy’s joy by taking bronze in a dramatic tussle at the finish with American Jordan Wilimovsky. “There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders”. This is the cherry on the top of the cake that I wanted.