Phelps becomes most decorated Olympian with 19th medal
August 1, 2012 10:41 am
Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time when he won his 19th medal on Tuesday.
Having drawn level with Larisa Latynina by winning silver in the men’s 200m butterfly early on Tuesday evening, Phelps passed the Soviet gymnast when USA won the 4x200m freestyle relay.
After anchoring the US team to a dominant victory, Phelps now has 15 gold, two silver and two bronze medal from his four Olympic Games.
The Bob Bowman-trained athlete paid tribute to his three relay team-mates, and said: “I thanked those guys (in the huddle) for helping get to this moment.
“I told those guys I wanted a big lead in the last leg and they gave it to me.
“I just wanted to hold on, I just wanted to thank them for allowing me to have this moment.’’
While it was an historic evening for the 27-year-old, it was tinged with disappointment as he was upset by South African Chad le Clos in thrilling fashion in the 200m fly.
Le Clos pipped Phelps on the very last stroke, the American’s glide into the wall proving so costly. He therefore missed out on winning what is his favourite event for the third Games in a row.
Le Clos touched in one minute 52.96 seconds, 0.05 faster than Phelps.
Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda claimed the bronze medal.
The gold medal was never in doubt in the relay though, the US team leading fromt he outset.
France took silver and China the bronze, with the British team down in sixth place.
Latynina’s record had stood since 1964 and Phelps still has three events to come in London so could extend the record further. He has, however, said this will be his final Olympics. (ESPNstar)
