The memes were online showing how badly Chad Le Clos had provoked the all-time swimming great Michael Phelps and how he failed to even land a medal in the 200-metre butterfly event.
There is no doubt who is the best, and Phelps again showed, at 31, he can beat the odds and notch up two more gold medals in Rio.
Yet to think the Durban-based swimmer is any less than Phelps after this outing would be incongruous. Le Clos, at 24, is already an established name in the sport.
Le Clos won the silver in the 200 freestyle on August 8, after getting through the heats and semi-final stages. An that day, he was again up in the heats in the 200 metres butterfly.
He came third in semi-final 2 to set up the clash against Phelps in the finals. It was plainfully obvious ,the schedule was hard on him and to see him finish fourth really does not speak of the fact the pain he had been through. In the finals, he would have at least landed a bronze, but for Masato Sakai, whose last 50 m desperate lunge, saw him overhauling Le Clos and Tamas Kenderesi, to win silver.
Le Clos is an Olympic champion, with two silvers and a bronze from four events in two Olympics. Unlike Phelps, Le Clos does not participate in Backstroke and Individual Medley, which is primarily why he cannot ever touch Phelps invincible tally of 21 golds, yet that barely undermines his exploits in Olympics, CommonWealth Games and World Championships. He was the Fina Long Course 100 m Butterfly Champion in 2015 in Russia and came in second in the 200 m event. He has won nine World Championship medals besides winning four golds in Common Wealth Games. Unlike Phelps, he is a short-course specialist.
Apart from Le Clos, the current pool of swimming talents also feature the 200-mere freestyle winner in Rio Sun Yang, his compatriot Cameron Van De Burgh,100-meters, breaststroke winner in London and Aussie Mitch Larkin.
Yet in age and in skill, Le Clos is undoubtedly ahead of this pile and with Phelps, bidding good bye after Rio, he can definitely win many ,with as many as two Olympics up his sleeve.
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
Olyroos coach Tony Vidmar is refusing to put a line through Nestory Irankunda's hopes of playing at the Paris Olympics after claiming he is…
The 2023-24 NBA season promised so much for the Australian contingent - for a few it’s been the ideal runway to the Paris Olympics…
Basketball superstar Lauren Jackson has been included in the extended Opals squad for the Paris Olympics, despite announcing her retirement from the international scene.…
The Brisbane Olympics stadiums fiasco has had wild twists and turns in just the last few days, but we still might not have seen…
Olympic swimming legend and Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has warned that "someone will die" if a multi-sport event that allows athletes to…
