LONDON – Michael Phelps lingered on the blocks, not wanting to make another shocking blunder. The 19th medal was his. All he had to do was avoid a DQ, then set off on what amounted to four victory laps.
Down and back, then down and back again, the roars getting louder with each stroke.
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When Phelps touched the wall, he finally had gold at his final Olympics.
And a record for the ages.
Phelps swam into history with a lot of help from his friends, taking down the last major record that wasn’t his alone. He took the anchor leg for the United States in a gold medal-winning performance of the 800-meter freestyle relay Tuesday night, earning the 19th Olympic medal of his career and the 15th gold.
About an hour earlier, Phelps took one of his most frustrating defeats at the pool, blowing it at the finish and settling for silver in his signature event, the 200 butterfly.
That tied the record for career medals held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, but it was hardly a triumphant moment. Phelps slung away his cap in disgust and struggled to force a smile at the medal ceremony.
But any disappointment from that race was gone by the time he dived in the water on the relay, having been staked to a huge lead by teammates Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Ricky Berens.
“I thanked those guys for helping me get to this moment,” Phelps said. “I told those guys I wanted a big lead. I was like, ‘You better give me a big lead going into the last lap,’ and they gave it to me. I just wanted to hold on.”
Berens handed off a lead of nearly four seconds to Phelps, who was extra cautious with the exchange, knowing the only way he could ruin this one was to get disqualified.
Phelps touched the wall for his first gold of the London Games with a cumulative time of 6 minutes, 59.70 seconds.
No one else was close. France’s Yannick Agnel swam a faster final leg than Phelps, but it wasn’t nearly good enough, his country taking silver in 7:02.77. China was far back in third at 7:06.30.
Several fans held up a bedsheet with “PHELPS GREATEST OLYMPIAN EVER” handwritten on it.
Hard to argue with that, though this hasn’t exactly been the farewell Phelps was hoping for — a sluggish fourth-place finish in the 400 individual medley, a runner-up showing in the 400 free relay, then another silver in the 200 fly.
The 200 fly was a race he had not lost at either the Olympics or world championships since Sydney, when he finished fifth as an unknown 15-year-old.
Phelps, after leading the entire race, tried to glide into the wall instead of taking one more stroke. South African Chad le Clos took that extra stroke and beat Phelps by five-thousandths of a second.
“Obviously I would have liked to have a better outcome in the 200 fly,” Phelps said. “I was on the receiving end of getting touched out. Chad swam a good race.”
Le Clos pounded the water when he saw the “1” beside his name.
“He has always been an inspiration to me and a role model,” le Clos said. “I’ve watched all his races a million times and I’ve run the commentary over and over. Now, I guess I can watch my race.”
Le Clos won South Africa’s second swimming gold of the games in a time of 1:52.96. Phelps finished in 1:53.01, while Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:53.21.
In the first final of the night, American Allison Schmitt won the 200 freestyle with a dominating performance.
Schmitt won in an Olympic-record 1:53.61. France’s Camille Muffat took silver in 1:55.58, almost a body length behind, while Bronte Barrett of Australia took the bronze over the United States’ Missy Franklin by a thousandth of a second. Barrett touched in 1:55.81. Franklin, who led after the first 50, was fourth in 1:55.82.
“I was just racing,” said Schmitt, who is quietly becoming one of the stars of the pool. “I knew I had to kick it. I just look at that scoreboard and see 53 and first place. I couldn’t be happier.”
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