Phelps wins 200m individual medley for 22nd Olympic gold

However, the favorite for that race has to be Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, who topped the prelim heats with a time of 2:06.09 and is seeking her fourth gold medal of the Rio Games.

Eight years ago, a 13-year-old swimmer from Singapore got to meet his idol, Michael Phelps. The winning time was 50.39 seconds. They all touched in 51.14.

Thursday night however, it was all gold for Phelps.

Phelps, 31, has said in the past that 2016 would be his final Olympics.

Will the friendly Michael Phelps-Ryan Lochte rivalry have another chapter at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo?

Phelps has won more than twice as many gold medals at the Games as the athlete second on the list, former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina (nine). He led at the midway point but faded to fifth. The pair has been teammates and rivals for years. The race will likely be the pair’s final face-off after competing in four straight Summer Olympic Games.

On Thursday night, the two famous swimmers faced off in the men’s 200-meter individual race.

Ledecky, the defending Olympic champion at the distance, added to her golds earlier in the week in the 200 and 400 freestyle and the 4×200 freestyle relay, plus a silver in the 4×100 relay. Le Clos, who won the 200 fly at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, missed the podium in the 200 fly here. The second most-decorated USA men’s swimmer in history, Lochte said he needs a break from the sport. Lochte recently said that if Phelps weren’t around, “I guess you could say, I’d be the Michael Phelps of swimming”.

On top of that, his own coach believes that Phelps’ state of mind is such that a return in four years just doesn’t make sense.