In the last individual race of his career, Phelps surged from the back of the field in the final 50 meters to claim gold in 51.21 seconds. Chad Le Clos of South Africa and Evgeny Korotyshkin of Russia finished in 51.44 seconds to tie for silver.
"I'm just happy that the last one was a win," Phelps told reporters after the race. "That's all I really wanted coming into the night."
Having also won gold in the 100-meter fly in 2004 and 2008, Phelps now has accomplished a pair of three-peats during the London 2012 Olympics. A day before winning the 100-meter fly in thrilling come-from-behind fashion, Phelps bested teammate Ryan Lochte for gold in the 200-meter individual medley. That triumph established Phelps as the first male swimmer to win the same individual event in three consecutive Olympics. With his 100-meter fly win, he's pulled the trick twice.
"He didn't have it on his goal sheet, but for me that was important," Phelps' coach Bob Bowman said of the three-peat. "I always wanted him to do three just because that was cool."
If one unprecedented treble was "cool" then what is there to say about two?
For U.S. swimmer Missy Franklin, the word that came to mind was "possible."
After breaking a world record en route to a gold medal in the women's 200-meter backstroke, the 17-year-old Franklin spoke about the impact of Phelps' success on his fellow swimmers.
"He helped people kind of re-think the impossible," said Franklin, via Nicole Auerbach of USA Today
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