Photo byTim Clayton - Corbis via Getty Images Wrapping up his career as the most medaled Olympic athlete in history, Michael Phelps won his 23rd gold medal in his final appearance as part of the men's 4x100 medley relay -- and with it a new world record. This was his 5th gold, along with 1 silver, in the Rio 2016 games.
Michael first competed as a 15 year old at the 2000 Olympics; 2016 was his 5th and, he says, his final Olympic competition. Teammates note that he said the same thing after the 2012 games.
His overall total number of Olympic medals is now 28: 23 Gold, 3 Silver, and 2 Bronze. Along with this, Michael holds 7 Olympic world records.
While not yet matching Phelps' medal count, the U.S. team has had other standout performances by swimmer Katie Ledecky with 4 gold medals and 1 silver. She also smashed her own world record in the 800m race, where she finished a whole 11 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, phenomenal in Olympic swimming where winners are often decided by hundredths of a second.
In addition, gymnast Simone Biels is still winning gold after gold, already being mentioned as the greatest woman gymnast of all times. And, if it were not for her teammate Simone, Aly Raisman would have been the champ. The two finished #1 and #2 in the women's individual all round gymnastic competition. And they still have the individual events to go.
Overall, this is a very good year for United States athletes. But Phelps, Ledecky, and Biels will go down in history as three of the best of all time.
Ralph
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