Michael Phelps’ eyes glistened, but no tears came. Not like his younger teammates, who had never won a medal like this before.
No, Phelps smiled and laughed, and he raised his fists in triumph. He’d done this 18 times before, let a gold medal fall against his chest as The Star-Spangled Banner played.
But even so, this 19th gold medal felt different. And special. It was the first one his son, Boomer, got to see, even though the 3-month-old most certainly won’t remember it.
Phelps, 31, turned in a terrific second leg of the Americans’ exhilarating 4×100 freestyle relay, giving his teammates a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Fellow Olympic veteran Nathan Adrian held off the furious French to anchor the U.S. and clinch the Americans’ first gold medal in this event in a major international meet since 2009.
In a most exhilarating fashion, in front of a raucous crowd that had already witnessed three broken world records earlier Sunday night, the U.S. men earned an unexpected gold in their first Olympic relay of these Rio Games. Caeleb Dressel led off with a strong 48.10-second leg, before the greatest Olympian of all time gave America its lead.
Ryan Held contributed the third leg, and a strong close by anchor Adrian in 46.97 secured victory. France took silver, and Australia came from behind to pass Russia for bronze.
