Michael Phelps: "The kids got talent"
Those were the words of
Michael Phelps about Chad Le Clos' commitment as a racer and his attempted
defence of the London 2012 200m butterfly gold medal.
But Phelps made it clear that he was going to take it back with every ounce of energy he had.
Phelps became the first ever Olympian to win an astonishing 20 gold medals in just five Olympic games.
"This was my signature event it's the one I won in my first Olympics and it meant everything to win it tonight in my fifth and last Olympics," the legendary swimmer said.
History will show that Phelps' 20th medal was not won in a particularly fast time, certainly not when one considers the times in London four years ago, but there has hardly been a more openly fought and anticipated showdown.
The archives will forever reflect:
1 PHELPS Michael USA 1:53.36
2 SAKAI Masato JPN 1:53.40
3 KENDERESI Tamas HUN
4 le CLOS Chad Guy Bertrand RSA 1:54.06
It has already been overlooked that the leader at 50m, Laszlo Cseh, the upcoming star, faded towards the finish, or that Chad was in third for the first 100m, and moved into second before being caught by the charges from way back in 5th and 6th.
This all paled into the depths as two giants of the competition each passionately wanted the Gold. It was an honorable night for sport and swimming.
You could hear the emotion in Phelps' speech and those present could see it on his face as he talked passionately about the meaning of this particular race.
Equally one can empathise with how Chad le Clos must be feeling, particularly given his quote earlier in the week that when he swam this year he was not only swimming for his coach and himself, but for his country and for his family, who have been going through a particularly tough time this year with fights of their own against cancer.
( File Photo - Gallo Images )
Twitter - @skytshabalala