Michael Phelps made amends for his shock defeat at London 2012 by recapturing gold in the 200m butterfly at Rio overnight.
Victory meant Phelps moved to 20 Olympic gold medals, but naturally the half-man-half-amphibian added a 21st shortly afterwards, anchoring the US team's golden effort in the 4x200m freestyle relay while making the rest of us feel like total garbage about our lives.
The 21st, however, was but a canter in comparison to the one which arrived before it, as Phelps battled both opponents and demons from 2012 to get over the line in spectacular circumstances.
This is what it looks like to win your 20th gold medal. @MichaelPhelps ?? pic.twitter.com/lfgyqH64JJ
— Brandon Saho (@BrandonSaho) August 10, 2016
"That's a lot of medals," Phelps said, shaking his head. "It's just insane."
I was pretty fired up after that race. I didn’t say anything to anybody else, but there wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing that tonight.
Going into the finish I said, 'If I have to take a half-stroke, I'm going to take a half stroke!
That split-second decision got Phelps over the line a mere four hundredths of a second ahead of his opponent.
When the 31-year-old looked up and saw the '1' next to his name, he raised a single digit accordingly - as if it was in any doubt that he wasn't arguably the most magnificent physical specimen in the history of man. Meanwhile, it would seem the US basketball team would agree.
#USABasketball cheering on Phelps. https://t.co/EFxi4YuP5o
— Finish Line (@FinishLine) August 10, 2016
Phelps held off Japan's Masato Sakai with a time of 1 minute, 53.36 seconds, but truth be told that number didn't matter a jot to Phelps; he just wanted to beat everyone else.
Four years ago, the American mistimed his finish in the same event, gliding to the wall a little too long after his final whirl of the arms. That allowed South African Chad le Clos to snatch gold in an event that Phelps had dominated for the better part of a decade.
Phelps retired after London 2012, so it appeared he would be unable to avenge his defeat. But when he decided about a year later to start competing again, the 200 fly was, by some margin, the coveted crown he strove towards more than any other.
"This is the race I really wanted back," he said last night, triumphant once more. "The last 10 meters were not fun. My gosh, I thought I was standing still."
During the anthem, a conspicuously emotional Phelps was brought to hysterics as one of his friends shouted 'O!' from the stands - a tradition for fans of the Oriels baseball team in the swimmer's hometown of Baltimore.
Phelps heard the "O" during the anthem pic.twitter.com/s11m18A2ni
— Jamo (@jameson2111) August 10, 2016
