RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – This is the one Michael Phelps really wanted, and it showed.
With challengers all around, he simply wouldn’t be denied.
After touching the wall first – barely – he held up one finger. Then he sat on a lane rope, egging on the roaring crowd at the Olympic Aquatics Center with both hands, before emphatically pumping his fist in the direction of his fiancee and their infant son.
Once again, the gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly belongs to Phelps.
Being the 20th gold of his career only added to the satisfaction.