Historic golds
Michael Phelps won his 26th medal and 22nd gold Thursday, and U.S. teammate Simone Manuel made history with her victory,
Michael Phelps is get-RIO DE JANEIRO ting closer and closer to finishing off these Olympic Games exactly the way he wants.
So far: four event finals down, four gold medals in hand. Phelps’ latest came Thursday night in the 200-meter individual medley, an event he now has won in four consecutive Olympics. Longtime teammate and friendly rival Ryan Lochte failed to win a medal in the race, finishing fifth.
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino won silver, followed by China’s Wang Shun, who took bronze.
Thursday night’s race was the final one between Lochte and Phelps, who have been squaring off in this particular event for 12 years.
About all Lochte could say afterward about Phelps was, “Nothing he does surprises me anymore.”
The most decorated Olympian in history, Phelps has 22 gold medals and 26 medals overall. He will next swim in the men’s 100 butterfly final Friday night and then the medley relay Saturday evening.
He qualified in the 100 fly about 35 minutes after winning gold Thursday.
The IM was not particularly close, with Phelps pulling away over the final 50 meters to finish in 1:54.66, more than two seconds ahead of Hagino.
Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming when she tied Penny Oleksiak of Canada in the 100 free.
“All I can say is all glory to God,” Manuel told NBC right after her race. “I’m just so blessed. I’m just so blessed. ... It means a lot of me. I just want to be an inspiration to others that you can do it.”
Earlier Thursday, Ryan Murphy officially became America’s next backstroke star. The 21-year-old won the men’s 200 backstroke in 1:53.62, three nights after taking gold in the 100 back.
Murphy will also swim in Saturday’s medley relay, a chance for a third Olympic medal.
In the 200 back semifinal, Missy Franklin, the star in London, failed to advance in the last race of her career.