MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Michael Phelps’ title rush continued on Tuesday at the Rio Games after he won back the 200m butterfly gold — the American had lost it to South Africa’s Chad Le Clos in 2012. Phelps later anchored the 4x200m freestyle relay team to gold as well, taking his gold tally up to 21.
RIO DE JANEIRO: Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu snared her third gold medal at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday with a gut-busting win in the women’s 200m individual medley final.
The 27-year-old led from start to finish to win the gruelling multi-stroke event in a time of two minutes 06.58 seconds, just 0.46 outside the world record she set at last year’s world championships in Russia. Britain’s Siobhan-Marie O’Connor took the silver in 2:06.88 while the bronze medal went to American Maya Dirado in 2:08.79.
Known as the “Iron Lady” of swimming, Hosszu is vying with Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky as one of the stars in swimming at Rio.
She also broke the world record in the 400 medley in Rio and was a surprise winner of the 100m backstroke, joining an elite group of female swimmers to have won three individual gold medals at a single Olympics.
Hosszu had entered a mind-boggling five events in Rio but withdrew from the heats of 200m butterfly earlier Tuesday, leaving her with four. If she wins her final event, the 200m backstroke, she will equal the all-time record for a female swimmer in individual events at a single Games, set by East Germany’s Kristin Otto in Seoul in 1988. China’s Ye Shiwen, who won the medley double at the last Olympics in London when she was just 16, finished last in the eight-woman final. “Coming into Rio I didn’t have any Olympic medals so I would have been OK having any colour medals,” Hosszu said. “It’s really unreal. It’s really weird. Honestly, I don’t think I had my best race tonight. But even if I don’t have my best race, I can still touch the wall first.”
It’s really unreal. It’s really weird. Honestly, I don’t think I had my best race tonight. But even if I don’t have my best race, I can still touch the wall first. KATINKA HOSSZU, after winning the 200m individual medley final