London 2012 Olympics: Michael Phelps sees off Ryan Lochte for gold

Michael Phelps added to his medal collection with his first individual gold medal of the London Games, and 
handed Ryan Lochte a double disappointment on his rival’s final night in the pool.

Phelps set the tone right from the start to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three straight Olympics, capturing the 200 metres individual medley for his 20th career medal – and 16th gold. He touched in 1 minute 54.27 seconds, just off his winning time in Beijing but still good enough for gold. Lochte settled for silver and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh took the bronze.

So a farewell games that started as a bit of a disappointment for Phelps is definitely looking up. He has now won two golds and two silvers in five races – not up to his China standards, but a fitting way to cap a brilliant career that still has two more events to go.

Lochte had been trying to pull off an impressive double 31 minutes apart. He came up short in both races, fading to bronze in the 200 backstroke behind fellow American Tyler Clary and Japan’s Ryosuke Irie, then touching after Phelps in the medley. Phelps’ reaction wasn’t a water-pounding celebration, just a dazed smile and a definite look of relief. He seemed to be soaking it all in, relishing a gold of his own in London with his previous victory coming in the 4x200 freestyle relay.

Lochte shook hands with his rival before crawling out of the pool for the last time at these games. His final tally: two golds, two silvers, one bronze and a fourth-place finish – impressive, but undoubtedly shy of what he had predicted would be “my time.” This time still 
belongs to Phelps.

Rebecca Soni isn’t doing too badly, either. Tearing through the water in her pink suit, Soni set her second world record in as many days to defend her Olympic title in the 200 breaststroke. She finished in 2:19.59, breaking her own mark of 2:20.00 set in the semis.

Soni broke into a big smile when she saw the time, racing the clock more than she was anyone in the water. Japan’s Satomi Suzuki took silver, more than a second behind at 2:20.72, while Russia’s Yulia Efimova claimed bronze in 2:20.92.

Rebecca Adlington, meanwhile, produced the fifth fastest 800m freestyle in the world this year to send out an ominous warning to her rivals ahead of tonight’s final.

Adlington is seeking to become the first Briton to successfully defend an Olympic swimming title and her time of 8:21.78 seconds has been bettered this year only by herself and American 15-year-old Katie Ledecky.

Adlington said: “I didn’t know what time I was going in that one at all. I just put my head down and went for it especially after the 400 heat only scraping in. I was like ‘I am not risking that even if I give it a little bit more than I should do, I’d rather get in safely’, so I just went for it and I am pleased with that time.”