It was a familiar scene, Michael Phelps atop an Olympic medal podium, gold medal hanging from his neck.
No one has ever done it more. Maybe no one ever will. And if what Phelps says is true, it’s the last time we’ll see him in that position.
“It’s wild. Twenty years. I couldn’t ask to finish on a better note. I’ve done everything I’ve ever wanted to do and I’m very happy,” Phelps said, struggling to sum up his career in a late-night press conference after winning what he says will be his last race.
“I don’t think everything has really struck me yet about what’s happened,” he said. “I’m sure over the next few days things will really start to set in.”
Phelps retired on top, the most decorated Olympian in every way possible after swimming the butterfly leg for the heavily-favored American 400-meter medley relay team Saturday night.
He won his 18th gold and 22nd Olympic medal overall in his final competitive swim, extending both records.
Phelps actually stood atop the medal podium twice — once during the medal ceremony with teammates Matthew Grevers, Brendan Hansen and Nathan Adrian, when he fought back tears during “The Star-Spangled Banner” — and again when he stopped back for one last time, holding a silver trophy given to him by FINA to celebrate his accomplishments.
The Aquatics Centre was packed on the last night of swimming here, and many stuck around to bid Phelps farewell.
The U.S. relay teammates held up a white banner with the words: “THANK YOU LONDON.” Someone near the top of the arena screamed, “We love you, Michael!” And as one of the greatest days in British Olympic history unfolded next door during track and field, some folks decked out in the Union Jack tried to get a “Michael! Michael! Michael!” chant going.
Phelps lingered, taking a victory lap, stalking around the pool to show the trophy to spectators and photographers. He joked with an Olympic volunteer as they walked between the swimming and diving pools. They both smiled.
This was some farewell.
“What he did for the sport will remain forever,” said Hansen.
The records should stand for a while, at least, until some other young gun comes along with a bag full of strokes and a body built for swimming the way Phelps’ was. Perhaps that swimmer’s already arrived — Missy Franklin, maybe — but the present belongs to Phelps.
He won six medals in seven races here — his only loss came Day 1 — including another four golds and his first two silvers. It was two fewer medals than he captured in each of the last two games, and half as many golds as his record haul in Beijing four years ago.
Phelps shared the spotlight with Ryan Lochte entering London and left with the light all to himself.
His final race wasn’t quite a laugher, but there was never really any doubt about the outcome with medalists from all four strokes swimming on the U.S. team.
Grevers, the 100 backstroke champ, gave the Americans a lead after 100 meters. They trailed Japan after Hansen’s breaststroke leg but Phelps had them back on top by .26 seconds after 300 meters and 100 freestyle champion Adrian locked it down with a fast split, touching the U.S. team in 3 minutes, 29.35 seconds — 1.91 ticks ahead of Japan.
“I’m nothing compared to Michael,” said Japanese breaststroke legend Kosuke Kitajima, who swam in the relay. “It was a wonderful experience for me that we were able to swim together in that last relay.”
The U.S. swept the medley relays on the last night of swimming.
Earlier, Franklin became the first American female to swim in seven Olympic events when she led off in a record-setting win by the U.S. in the women’s 400 medley team.
Franklin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Allison Schmitt swam the race in 3:52.05 to take .14 seconds off China’s old world record from 2009. Australia ended 1.97 seconds back in second place and Japan was third.
Franklin, 17, swam the leadoff backstroke laps and won her fifth medal in London, including four golds to cement her place as the new young star in U.S. swimming.
Phelps leaves U.S. swimming in the hands of the likes of Franklin and 15-year- old Katie Ledecky, the 800 free champion.
Yes, he swears he’s done. Don’t expect him to pull a Brett Favre, coming back for another chance only to retire again. Only to come back, only to retire, and on and on.
Phelps, just 27, has always said he doesn’t want to still be swimming by the time he’s 30. And he knows if he swims one, two, three more years, it will mean swimming four more years. It will mean another Olympics.
He’d like to travel, please, to see other parts of cities around the world besides their hotels and pools. He’s seen so many interesting places, but never really SEEN them, if you know what he means.
There’s a chance his first stop will be South Africa, where he says he wants to cage dive with sharks. Chad le Clos, the 20-year-old South African who beat his hero in the men’s 200 fly here, may have talked him into that one.
“I’ve been very fortunate to look back over my career and say I’ve been able to accomplish every goal that I’ve ever wanted to. And I think at that point in your career, it’s just time to move on,” said Phelps.
“There are other things that I want to do in my life and I’m not sure staring at a black line for four hours a day is one of those.”
U.S. SETS WR IN WOMEN’S MEDLEY RELAY
London, England (Sports Network) – Missy Franklin became the first American female to swim in seven Olympic events, leading off in a record-setting win by the U.S. in the women’s 400-meter medley relay Saturday night.
Franklin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Allison Schmitt swam the race in 3 minutes, 52.05 seconds to take .14 seconds off China’s old world record from 2009.
Franklin, 17, swam the leadoff backstroke laps and won her fifth medal in London, including four golds to cement her place as the new young star in U.S. swimming.
The U.S. swimmers in the relay combined to win 16 medals here, some of them overlapping.
“I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to end it, that was so perfect in every way,” Franklin said. “It was the most fun relay I’ve ever been on. … Every single team in the ready room tonight was laughing and joking.”
Australia ended 1.97 seconds back in second place and Japan was third.
SUN BREAKS OWN WR TO WIN 1,500 FREE
London, England (Sports Network) – China’s Sun Yang smashed his own world record to win the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle Saturday night for his second gold medal of the London Olympics.
Sun finished the grueling race in 14 minutes, 31.02 seconds to take 3.12 ticks off the mark he set in July 2011.
Canada’s Ryan Cochrane was second, 8.61 seconds back with a North American record, and Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli ended third.
American Connor Jaeger was sixth.
Sun jumped early but was not disqualified. He smashed the water with his fists in celebration when the race was over, then cried. He also won the 400 free here last Saturday and finished with four medals at the London Games.
100 CHAMP KROMOWIDJOJO ADDS 50 FREE WIN
London, England (Sports Network) – Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands, already the 100-meter champion, won the 50-meter freestyle Saturday night in Olympic-record time.
Kromowidjojo swam the length of the Aquatics Centre pool in 24.05 seconds — taking .01 seconds off German Britta Steffen’s record from Beijing in 2008.
She touched .23 seconds ahead of Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus while fellow Dutchwoman Marleen Veldhuis earned the bronze .34 seconds back.
Steffen was fourth and American Jessica Hardy finished seventh.
Kromowidjojo also set the Olympic record in the 100 free on Thursday night. Herasimenia was the silver medalist.
JAMAICA’S FRASER-PRYCE WINS 100 AGAIN ON BIG NIGHT FOR BRITS
London, England (Sports Network) – Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won her second straight gold medal in the women’s 100-meters Saturday at the London Games, but the host nation of Great Britain wound up stealing the spotlight with three gold medals.
Jessica Ennis was expected to win heptathlon gold for the host nation after building a big lead heading into Saturday evening’s final discipline, but Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford’s Olympic titles on the men’s side were nothing short of shocking.
Farah, a Somalian-born and British-raised distance runner, became the first non-African to win the men’s 10,000 meters since Italy’s Albert Cova claimed gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Farah was also the first British man to win the event.
Not to be outdone, Rutherford became the second man from Great Britain to win gold in the long jump and the first in 48 years. Lynn Davies won the other gold at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Including three additional golds won Saturday in track cycling and rowing, Great Britain had its most successful day at the Olympics in over 100 years. The last time the nation won six gold medals on a single day was at the 1908 Summer Games, which also happened to be held in London.
“People say there’s pressure being in a home Olympics, but I don’t think there’s pressure,” said Farah. “They (the crowd) give you that lift, that buzz.”
Meanwhile, the United States picked up two silvers and a bronze on the night, with Carmelita Jeter finishing just .03 seconds behind Fraser-Pryce in her first Olympic race. Galen Rupp also claimed silver behind Farah in the 10,000, becoming the first American man to medal at that distance since Billy Mills in 1964. Read more →