Michael Phelps Just Smashed A 2,000-Year-Old Olympic Record Set By An Ancient Greek
Insane.
By John Lim — 12 Aug 2016, 12:04 PM
The most decorated Olympian of all time a.k.a the real Aquaman - Michael Phelps - has beaten a 2,168-year-old Olympic record for individual event successes. Yup, a TWO MILLENNIA old record.
With his recent victory on Thursday night for the 200m individual medley at the Rio Olympics, Phelps’ gold medal count now sits at 22.
He overtook the record of 12 successes set by Leonidas (not the one from the movie '300') of Rhodes in the original Greek Games in 152 B.C
We're guessing this is the most accurate depiction of Leonidas since, you know, cameras weren't a thing then.
Image via BBCLeonidas won 12 individual events over four Olympics. At 36, five years older than Phelps, he won his last three golds in 152 B.C, in races of about 200 and 400 meters and in a shield-carrying race.
Phelps surpassed Leonidas, winning his 13th individual gold (and 22nd gold overall and 26th medal). With the victory, Phelps also joined the track and field Olympians Al Oerter and Carl Lewis as the only Americans to win an individual event four times.
nytimes.com
Phelps clocked in at 1 minute 54.66 seconds in the 200m individual medley final, just 0.43 seconds shy from his second-best ever at the Beijing Games
Michael Phelps of the United States embraces Thiago Pereira of Brazil after winning the Men's 200m Individual Medley Final.
Image via TIMEIn his usual fashion, he took the gold medal with ease, finishing the medley by over a body length. Kosuke Hagino of Japan came in second while China’s Wang Shun took bronze.
Phelps holding up four fingers afterward to indicate the four golds he’s won at this Olympics.
Oh, did we mention that Phelps is also the only swimmer in history to have won the same event, the 200m medley, in four consecutive games?
But Phelps is not done yet. He's got one more individual event, 100m butterfly and the 4x100 medley relay that'll close up his outing at the Rio Olympics. From the looks of it, he'll go six-for-six.
