Ryan Lochte won the Gold Medal today in the men’s 400m individual medley upsetting Michael Phelps who came in fourth place. This is Phelps first Olympic loss in eight years.
“I think I’m kind of in shock right now,” Lochte told reporters after winning the gold.
According to Swimming World, Lochte’s time is the second best ever, trailing only Phelps’ world record mark of 4:03:84 set in 2008. Swimming only seven events at the 2012 London Olympics, Phelps was never going to match his epic medal haul from Beijing but he has looked far from sharp thus far. After his fourth-place finish, he told reporters it was “just a crappy race,” via Nicole Auerbach of USA Today Sports.
“It was just a crappy race,” Phelps said. “I felt fine the first 200, then I don’t know. They just swam a better race than me, a smarter race than me, and were better prepared than me. That’s why they’re on the medal stand.”
ESPN reports that Phelps was trying to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three straight Olympics. He’ll have three more chances at a threepeat before he’s done in London, having also won the 200 individual medley, plus the 100 and 200 butterfly, at Athens and Beijing.
Lochte took the gold in 4 minutes, 5.18 seconds. Brazil’s Thiago Pereira (4:08.86) settled for silver, while Japan’s Kosuke Hagino (4:08.94) claimed the bronze — beating Phelps by a fairly comfortable 34-hundredths of a second for the last spot on the podium.
Sources:
Huffington Post
ESPN
PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency is a speakers bureau and top booking agent for Olympic speakers, athlete appearances and endorsements. If you would like hire Ryan Lochte for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, request Ryan Lochte speaker and Ryan Lochte agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. For more information call 800.966.1380.
