JOSEPH SCHOOLING prevented his idol Michael Phelps from landing a 23rd Olympic gold.
The Singapore swimmer, 21, grew up dreaming of emulating the American, who he once posed for a picture with back in 2008.
And the apprentice got the better of the master here in Rio, as Schooling won the 100 metres butterfly in a time of 50.39 seconds, leaving Phelps in a THREE-WAY tie for second.
The Baltimore Bullet, his big rival Chad le Clos and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh incredibly all touched in 51.14secs.
And there was the unprecedented sight of the three pool giants holding hands and picking up their silvers together on the podium.
RELATED ARTICLES
Schooling, though, had the top step all too himself – and he immediately challenged Phelps for a rematch in Tokyo 2020.
The rookie grinned: “At the end, I told him to go four more years and he said, ‘No way!’.
“But hopefully he changes his mind. It’s fun. I like racing Michael.”
This was only the fifth of Phelps’ 27 Olympic medals that have not been gold.
But he will have the chance to sign off in style with his American team-mates in the 4x100m medley relay on Saturday.
Leave a comment