Phelps Finishes Second For 18th Career Medal

By PAUL NEWBERRY, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Michael Phelps flipped away his cap in disgust, having blown the race with a blunder at the end.

He hardly looked like the swimmer who had just equaled the record for most Olympic medals.

Phelps won his 18th career medal Tuesday night, but it was only a silver. Having led the entire way in the 200-meter butterfly, he tried to glide to the wall after his final stroke and was out-touched by Chad le Clos of South Africa.

[PHOTOS: The 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.]

Le Clos pounded the water when he saw the "1'' beside his name.

Phelps hung on the lane rope and buried his face in his hands, disgusted with himself for having squandered another chance to win his first gold of the London Games.

Le Clos won in a time of 1 minute, 52.96 seconds. Phelps finished in 1:53.01, while Japan's Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:53.21.

Despite his mistake, Phelps tied Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most Olympic medals. But he wanted to take the mark down with a flourish, not back into it. In fact, this was a shocking mistake by a swimmer who won a memorable race at the Beijing Games when a rival made the very same error.

Four years ago, Milorad Cavic thought he had the 100 fly in the bag after his final stroke. Phelps made the split-second decision to get in one more stroke and slammed into the wall — one-thousandth of a second ahead of the Serbian swimmer.

This time, it was Phelps on the losing end. He was also denied a chance to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three straight Olympics.

Still, before the night was done, Phelps was expected to claim the medal record all to himself. He was swimming the anchor leg for the favored Americans in the 4x200 freestyle relay.

[PHOTOS: The 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.]

In the first final of the night, American Allison Schmitt won the 200 freestyle with a dominating performance that left everyone else, including teammate Missy Franklin, battling for the other medals.

Schmitt won with an Olympic-record of 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 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.

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Phelps, Lochte Set for Final Olympic Showdown

By BETH HARRIS, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — It's time for Round 2 of Michael Phelps vs. Ryan Lochte.

Their first showdown of the London Olympics went to Lochte in a runaway on the opening night of the swimming competition. This one figures to be a lot closer.

The American stars compete against each other for the last time in the 200-meter individual medley on Thursday night. Lochte qualified fastest in 1 minute, 56.13 seconds. Phelps was 98-hundredths of a second back in third.

[Photo Gallery: Olympics Opening Ceremony]

"We love racing against each other," said Phelps, who plans to retire after the games. "Neither one of us likes to lose. I like to say we bring out the best in one another."

In between them again is Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. He's been the perennial also-ran in the last two Olympics, taking bronze behind Phelps at the 2004 Athens Games and silver four years ago in Beijing when Phelps won and Lochte was third.

Phelps could accomplish one more bit of history on Day 6 at the pool. A victory would make him the first male swimmer to win an individual event in three consecutive Olympics. Japanese star Kosuke Kitajima failed to defend either of his titles in the 100 or 200 breaststrokes, leaving Phelps a chance to accomplish the feat.

He missed on his first two tries at a threepeat, finishing fourth in the 400 IM (Lochte won) and second in the 200 butterfly.

Lochte has a busy schedule on what could be a big night for the U.S. He'll try to defend his title in the 200 backstroke final, with teammate Tyler Clary pressuring him as the fastest qualifier. Then a short time later, Lochte returns for the 200 IM final.

Leading off the night will be Rebecca Soni in the 200 breaststroke final. The American broke the world record in the semifinals with a time of 2:20.00 on Wednesday and will be the heavy favorite to win her second straight Olympic gold medal.

"It's been four years since I swam close to that fast so it's great to be back on top like that," she said. "I'm excited to have one more race. I felt good so all I have to do is feel about the same and hopefully I can go a little faster."

The night wraps up with a new champion being crowned in the women's 100 freestyle final, an all-out sprint to the wall featuring Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands and American teenager Missy Franklin.

Kromowidjojo set an Olympic record of 53.05 seconds in the semifinals. Melanie Schlanger of Australia was second-quickest at 53.38 and Franklin was third in 53.59. Defending champion Britta Steffen of Germany failed to make the final.

The U.S. team continued its strong showing with victories by Nathan Adrian in the 100 free and the team of Franklin, Dana Vollmer, Shannon Vreeland and Allison Schmitt in the 4x200 free relay on Wednesday.

Adrian won a thrilling race that came down to the end. He got to the wall one-hundredth of a second ahead of James "The Missile" Magnussen of Australia, becoming the first American to win the 100 free since Matt Biondi at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Adrian hit the wall in 47.52 to Magnussen's 47.53. Brent Hayden of Canada took the bronze in 47.80, his country's first-ever medal in the event.

"This guy is an incredible closer. I knew that," Adrian said of Magnussen. "I knew it was going to take a lot more than what I'd ever done before to be able to hang with him those last 5 meters."

Adrian had shown what he could do against Magnussen in the 4x100 free relay, going faster than the Aussie on the opening leg. The Missile came in as the world champion and had swum the fastest time ever in a textile suit (47.10) at the Australian trials in March.

"To have lost that one was shattering," Magnussen said. "To get knocked down again, it's tough."

The Aussies took another bitter defeat to the U.S. in the women's 4x200 free relay. Schmitt chased down Alicia Coutts on the last leg and won going away in 7:42.92. The Aussies settled for silver in 7:44.41, while France took the bronze.

Soni wasn't the only one with a world record Wednesday.

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Phelps Goes Out in Style, Rallying in 100 Butterfly

 Michael Phelps celebrates winning the Men's 100m Butterfly Final as he exits the pool on Day 7 of the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 3, 2012.
By PAUL NEWBERRY, Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Seventh at the turn, an Olympic champion at the end.
Make it 17 gold medals for Michael Phelps.
Was there any other way to go out in the final individual race of his career?
[Full Coverage: 2012 London Games]
With those long arms whirling through the water, Phelps was next-to-last when he touched the wall at the far end of the pool in the 100-meter butterfly but in a familiar position when he made the touch that counted Friday — his name atop the leaderboard, a smile on his face, another gold medal around his neck.
"I'm just happy that the last one was a win," Phelps said. "That's all I really wanted coming into the night."
He claimed his third gold of the London Games and 17th of his career, adding to an already absurd record total that should be twice as much as anyone else by the time he swims the final race of his career, the 4x100 medley relay Saturday night.
The Americans are huge favorites in a race they have never lost, and it's unfathomable to think the Phelps era could end with anything less than a performance that puts him atop the podium one last time.
In what might be viewed as a symbolic changing of the guard from America's retiring swimming star to the next big thing, 17-year-old Missy Franklin set a world record in the 200 backstroke, her third gold in London, just minutes before Phelps took center stage at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Another American teen, 19-year-old Elizabeth Beisel, claimed the bronze in that race.
[Video: Is Phelps the Greatest?]
"I can't believe what just happened," said Franklin, who had dedicated her Olympics to victims of the theater shooting not far from her Colorado home. "In that last 25, I knew I was giving it everything I had because I couldn't feel my arms and legs and I was just trying to get my hand to the wall as fast I could."
Right after Phelps was done, 15-year-old Katie Ledecky — the youngest member of the U.S. team — nearly broke the world record to win gold in the 800 freestyle, denying Britain's Rebecca Adlington a repeat before her home fans. Adlington settled for bronze in a race Ledecky dominated from start to finish, falling off record pace only in the last 15 meters.
But no one has dominated like Phelps, who increased his career overall medal total to 21.
"He's the king of the Olympics Games," said his butterfly rival, Serbia's Milorad Cavic.
Even though Phelps didn't go as fast in the final as he did in the semifinals, he actually won by a relatively comfortable margin compared to his two previous Olympic wins in the 100 fly: four-hundredths of a second over Ian Crocker in 2004, then one-hundredth of a second — the closest race possible — against Cavic at the Beijing Games four years ago.
That was the victory that kept Phelps on course to win a historic eight gold medals in China.
This was about going out in style.
Phelps slammed the wall in 51.21 seconds for payback against the guy who edged him in the 200 fly, Chad le Clos. No gliding into this finish, the move that cost Phelps a gold in their first meeting.
Le Clos finished in 51.44, patting Phelps on the shoulder after tying for silver with Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin. Cavic tied for fourth in 51.81, not even close to Phelps in their final meeting.
"I cannot be compared to Michael Phelps," said Cavic, who also plans to retire after the London Games. "I'm a one-trick pony."
France won its fourth gold at the pool, its best showing ever, as Florent Manaudou — younger brother of 2004 gold medalist Laure Manaudou — shocked defending Olympic champion and world-record holder Cesar Cielo of Brazil in the 50 freestyle.
[Photos: Day 7 of the Games]
Manaudou touched in 21.34 and pounded the water out in Lane 7, then got a big hug from his sister as soon as he climbed from the pool. Cullen Jones of the United States took silver in 21.54, while Cielo was left with bronze in 21.59. Anthony Ervin, the 2000 Olympic champion who came back from an eight-year retirement, finished fifth after getting off to a poor start.

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