RIO DE JANEIRO – This is the one Michael Phelps really wanted, and it showed.
With challengers all around, he simply wouldn’t be denied.
After touching the wall first – barely – he held up one finger. Then he sat on a lane rope, egging on the roaring crowd at the Olympic Aquatics Center with both hands, before emphatically pumping his fist in the direction of his fiancee and their infant son.
Once again, the gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly belongs to Phelps.
Being the 20th gold of his career only added to the satisfaction.
Making up for one of the few losses in his staggering career, Phelps held off Japan’s Masato Sakai by a mere four-hundredths of a second. The winning time was 1 minute, 53.36 seconds, but that was of little concern. The only thing that mattered was getting to the wall first.
Four years ago, Phelps mistimed his finish in the swooping stroke he does better than anyone, gliding to the wall a little too long after his final stroke. That allowed Chad le Clos of South Africa to stunningly win gold in an event that Phelps had dominated for the better part of a decade.
Phelps retired after the London Games, so it looked like he wouldn’t get a chance to make up for his defeat. But when he decided about a year later to start competing again, the 200 fly was clearly the title he wanted more than any other.
Le Clos was in the final again, thoroughly inspired himself by his mother and father, both battling cancer and in the stands cheering him on.
But the South African could only manage fourth this time, finishing behind bronze medalist Tamas Kenderesi of Hungary.
In what was shaping up to be another very good night for the Americans, Katie Ledecky took the most challenging step toward a feat that’s only been done one other time.
Ledecky held off Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom to win the 200 freestyle and give the American star her second gold of the Rio Games.
Debbie Meyer is the only female swimmer to capture the three longest freestyle events at a single Olympics, winning the 200, 400 and 800 at Mexico City in 1968. Ledecky looks like a lock to match Meyer, having already won the 200 and 400 titles and an overwhelming favorite in the 800, where she’s the world-record holder and far faster than anyone else in the world.
Fifth at the first flip turn, a bit faster than she usually goes out, Ledecky powered to the front on the third lap and grittily shooed off a hard-charging Sjostrom coming to the wall.
Ledecky touched in 1:53.73. The silver went to Sjostrom in 1:54.08, while early leader Emma McKeon faded to the bronze in 1:54.92. World-record holder Federica Pelligrini of Italy was fourth.
Ledecky knew this was the most vulnerable of her three individual events. She crushed the world record in the 400 and everyone expects her to do the same in the 800.
The 200 may be the shortest race of the bunch but it’s definitely the hardest for Ledecky, requiring her to show both her speed and endurance against a far more competitive field.
Phelps hustled off the deck after his victory celebration, having only about an hour to get ready for his second race of the night – anchoring the U.S. in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
Conor Dywer was leading off for the Americans, followed by Townley Haas and 11-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte, competing in his first event of these games.
Phelps was picked to finish up, looking to claim gold medal No. 21.
At the other end of Olympic Park, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team captured a second straight gold with a high-flying and dominating performance.
The triumph was never in doubt, their score of 184.897 at the Rio Games was more than eight points clear of the field. The day was capped by the 19-year-old Biles, a fan favorite, whose boundary-pushing floor exercise showed just how far ahead they are of everyone else.
Biles, Lauren Hernandez, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman also gave retiring national team coordinator Martha Karolyi a fitting send off with powerful performances on all the apparatuses.
The golden girls dubbed themselves “The Final Five” in honor of Karolyi’s retirement at the end of the Olympics and the fact that the format is changing for Tokyo in 2020 so that only four team members will take part in the team competition.
The normally stern Karolyi broke down in tears when she was told of the nickname the team adopted.
“I think at this moment we can say that that the United States dominates the world of gymnastics,” Karolyi said.
Russia took the silver medal and China earned bronze.
Other highlights from Day 4 at the Rio Games:
At Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, there was more buzz over the color of the water than the diving competition. It had turned a murky green since Monday night’s events. Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia didn’t seem to care about the color. They won the women’s 10-meter synchronized platform title to make China 3-for-3 in the competition so far.
Williams shanked shots all over the court in getting upset by Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. The top-ranked American won’t get a chance to defend the gold she won in London. Williams looked out of sorts and irritated, accumulating 37 unforced errors. She had five double-faults in one game alone in the 6-4, 6-3 loss to the 20th-ranked Svitolina. Williams wiped her forehead, picked up her rackets and headed back quickly to the locker room. Svitolina, who had never before played in an Olympics, smiled and stuck her arms out in front of her, palms up, as if waking up from a dream.
Sonny Bill Williams was helped off with an ankle injury during New Zealand’s shocking 14-12 loss to Japan in its first game of rugby sevens. New Zealand is a 12-time world series champion and one of the top contenders for the first rugby medals awarded at an Olympics in 92 years.