Rio De Janeiro
Gold.
Phelps put the United States ahead to stay on the butterfly leg and Nathan Adrian finished it off, giving the most decorated athlete in Olympic history his 23rd career gold medal.
If that was the end, and Phelps insists it is, what a way to go out.
He would finish his career with 28 medals overall, having won five golds and a silver at these games.
Phelps insists he won’t be coming out of retirement again for Tokyo in 2020.
“I’m not going four more years and I’m standing by that,” he said. “I’ve been able to do everything I’ve ever put my mind to in the sport and after 24 years in the sport, I’m happy with how things finished.”
American Ryan Murphy set the world record in 100 backstroke during 4×100 medley relay, finishing in 51.85.
Also, the U.S. women’s 4×100-meter medley relay team won gold — and reached a milestone.
Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel teaming up to prevail at the Rio Games on Saturday night is being recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the nation’s 1,000th gold medal in Summer Olympics history.
Manuel swam the last leg, and when she hit the wall her three teammates hugged on the pool deck. Their winning time was 3 minutes, 53.13 seconds.
The U.S. is the first nation to win 1,000 summer golds, the first of those coming in 1896. No other nation comes close — the Soviet Union stopped at 473 golds, and no other country is on pace to reach the milestone until 2100.
The USOC is planning to recognize the 1,000th gold in the coming days, though exact plans on that front remain unclear.
All eyes were on double defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. But it was her fellow-Jamaican Elaine Thompson who ran away with gold in the 100 meters.
Though Fraser-Pryce may have been first out of the blocks Saturday, Thompson powered through for the title in 10.71 seconds. American Tori Bowie lunged at the line for 10.83 and beat Fraser-Pryce by 0.03 seconds.
European champion Dafne Schippers had a bad start and finished fifth with 10.90.
Fraser-Pryce was seeking to become the first women in track to win three Olympic gold medals in a row.
Monica Puig won Puerto Rico’s first gold medal in any sport in Olympic history, upsetting Angelique Kerber in the women’s tennis singles final at the Rio Games. Puig is ranked 34th and is the first unseeded women’s singles gold medalist since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988.
Seeded second, Kerber won the Australian Open in January and was the runner-up at Wimbledon last month.
She was trying to give Germany its first singles gold since Steffi Graf in 1988, but instead goes home with silver.
The IAAF said Saturday it has banned the only Russian in Olympic track and field from competition and she is appealing the ruling. A decision on Darya Klishina’s appeal is expected before the long jump competition begins Tuesday.
Usain Bolt turned the Olympic Stadium into his stage again for his first race at the Rio Games, cruising to an easy win in his 100-meter heat, backed up by the trademark showmanship to the thrill of the crowd.
Other highlights from Day 8:
Golf Gold: For all the talk about top players skipping Rio, the sport couldn’t have asked for a better final round. Justin Rose of Britain is the third-round leader and will be trying to win golf’s first gold medal in 112 years.
Rose made two eagles in the opening five holes and shot a 6-under 65 to build a one-shot lead over British Open champion Henrik Stenson.
Sluggish Sprinter: Bolt did not disappoint the crowd, but he was displeased with himself. He was slow out of the blocks but once his tall majestic frame reached full flow, there was no stopping him. “It wasn’t the best start, it felt kind of sluggish,” Bolt said, adding that he never has been a morning person and preparations for his noon race felt unusual.
Goodbye Green: After blaming algae, heat and even the number of swimmers for the green water at Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, officials now say a contractor mistakenly dumped hydrogen peroxide into the pool, causing an adverse reaction with chlorine. So, they’re draining the larger pool to transfer nearly 1 million gallons from a nearby practice pool.
Photo Finish: After rowing for more than a mile, the gold medal came down to an inch. New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale and Croatia’s Damir Martin crossed the finish line in the men’s single sculls side by side, not knowing which one of them was the new Olympic champion. A photo analysis showed Drysdale won by a thumb’s length.
British Elation: Another British medal haul is going on at the velodrome. Britain won seven of 10 gold medals possible in London in 2012.
The women’s team pursuit squad of Katie Archibald, Laura Trott, Elinor Barker and Joanna Rowsell-Shand beat the world champion United States in the finals, giving their powerful track cycling team its third gold medal in Rio.