The Olympic curtain came down on Michael Phelps Saturday, but not before he and his US 4×100-meter medley relay colleagues could add another medal to his already record-breaking collection.
Phelps swam the butterfly third leg of a tight race, pushing the US from second behind Great Britain up to first before freestyle specialist Nathan Adrian saw it home for gold in an Olympic record time of three minutes 27.95 seconds.
The win guaranteed the “Baltimore Bullet” his 23rd gold medal in five Games appearances stretching over 16 years, not to mention a fifth win at Rio 26.
Phelps, who now has 28 Olympic medals in total, had earlier told fans in a Facebook Live chat that Saturday would be the last time he graced the Olympic pool.
And the most decorated Olympian of all time was clearly out to leave a valedictory flourish.
Phelps entered the pool with the US trailing Great Britain after Ryan Murphy’s opening backstroke and Cody Miller’s breaststroke leg.
Two lengths later and the US was in the clear and heading for gold.
More to follow …