Michael Phelps won gold in the 200 meter men's individual medley on Thursday night, dominating the field and teammate Ryan Lochte for the win.
Lochte led after 100m, but he was only .01 seconds ahead of Phelps and Brazil's Thiago Pereira. Then, Phelps turned on the afterburners. The decorated American put the rest of his competitors in his wake and cruised to a dominant first place finish in 1:54.66. Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino, who won the 400m IM event earlier this week, took home the silver medal but was nearly two full seconds behind. China's Wang Shun finished third, while Lochte had to settle for fifth.
The gold was his fourth straight gold in Rio de Janeiro and 22nd overall. He's the first swimmer in Olympic history to win his first four events in the pool at a single Games.
The event earned top billing on Thursday night thanks to what promises to be the final Olympic showdown between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. The 200m IM was the only event in the 2016 Games where the two competed against each other, but their Olympic history is long and storied. Phelps edged out Lochte for gold in 2012 and 2004. Phelps was the champion once more in 2008, but Lochte was relegated to third place behind Hungary's Laszlo Cseh.
Despite Phelps' litany of gold, Lochte has something the most decorated modern Olympian could not claim; he holds the world record in the event at 1:54.00. He was also the 2015 World Champion, though Phelps did not compete at last year's event due to a suspension stemming from his second drunk driving arrest. Fellow finalists Thiago Pereira of Brazil and Wang Shun of China took home second and third place at that event.
| Mens 200m IM | |||
| Place | Swimmer | Country | Time |
| 1 | Michael Phelps | USA | 1:54.66 |
| 2 | Kosuke Hagino | JPN | 1:56.61 |
| 3 | Wang Shun | CHN | 1:57.05 |
| 4 | Hiromasa Fujimori | JPN | 1:57.21 |
| 5 | Ryan Lochte | USA | 1:57.47 |
| 6 | Philip Heintz | GER | 1:57.48 |
| 7 | Thiago Pereira | BRA | 1:58.02 |
| 8 | Daniel Wallace | GBR | 1:58.54 |