Michael Phelps made history on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, winning the 20th and 21st gold medals of his Olympic career by placing first in the 200-meter butterfly and 4×200 freestyle relay. These Games, though, are about much more than the pool for the most decorated Olympian of all time, who returned to competition two years ago following a brief retirement and became the sports world’s latest, greatest meme while sitting stone-faced behind loudmouth rival Chad le Clos in preparation for a qualifying heat on Monday.
After winning his signature event and finger-wagging in celebration, Phelps’ night was over when he earned another gold with his American teammates. Finally, the greatest swimmer ever could give himself a chance to relax. Not that he had much time to do so before being bombarded by some extra tall fans donning the red, white, and blue, of course.
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That Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, and their superstar Team USA brethren took advantage of the chance to meet Phelps and his aquatically-inclined teammates shouldn’t be surprising. That’s them in the video above, after all, cheering on Phelps, Katie Ledecky, and more in their quests for Olympic glory.
As silver medalist Amanda Weir says, this is why we love the Olympics.
