Michael Phelps has no time for rival's antics
RIO DE JANEIRO – The smoldering rivalry between Michael Phelps and Chad le Clos heated up again Monday night.
TV cameras caught le Clos dancing and shadow boxing in front of a glowering Phelps in the ready room before the 200-meter butterfly semifinals. Phelps stared a hole through le Clos while he was dancing and then vowed not to let his South African rival get into his head prior to Tuesday night’s final.
“Everybody has their own race strategy and what they do,” Phelps said. “If that’s his, that’s his. I was trying to focus on what the guys in the heat before me were doing and not really pay attention. He had a tough double tonight, a couple decent swims. Tomorrow’s race I expect will get a lot of hype. It will be exciting.”
The rivalry between Phelps and le Clos began when the South African stunned Phelps to capture gold in the 200 fly at the London Olympics. Phelps was gracious at the time, but the relationship soured after the American came out of retirement in 2014, jumped back into the event and noted that the times had not improved much in his absence.
When le Clos swam a 100-meter butterfly time he apparently felt confident Phelps couldn’t beat last summer, he began a war of words with the then-18-time Olympic gold medalist.
“I’m just very happy that he’s back to his good form, so he can’t come out and say, ‘Oh, I haven’t been training,’ or all that rubbish that he’s been talking,” le Clos told reporters last August. “Next year is going to be Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier.”
When Phelps eclipsed le Clos’ time just days later in San Antonio, he felt no need to respond further.
“There are a lot of things I could say. But I won’t,” Phelps said. “I’m going to let what I do in the pool do my talking.”
Phelps ultimately qualified second for Tuesday night’s 200 fly final, finishing two spots ahead of le Clos and less than two tenths of a second behind top qualifier Tamas Kenderesi of Hungary. It will probably take a faster swim to capture gold Tuesday night, but Phelps was pleased with his time of 1:54.12, especially after a sluggish effort in the prelims Monday morning.
“I’m finishing well,” he said. “I need to probably work on some momentum coming in and out of turns, but at least I didn’t chop any walls tonight. I feel a lot better than I did this morning. Getting a two-hour nap at home felt really amazing.”
