He's back! Michael Phelps regains title in 200 fly, knocks out shadowboxing Chad Le Clos

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:14 p.m. ET

Chris Chase

He's still got it. Oh, does he ever.

Swimming in his most anticipated head-to-head Olympic matchup since the "race of the century" in Athens, 31-year-old Michael Phelps was the resounding winner of his 200m butterfly rematch with Chad Le Clos, the cocky, shadowboxing South African who stunned Phelps in London and spent the next four years reminding people about it.

It was Phelps' 20th gold medal (a total he shouldn't stay stuck on for long - the Americans are heavily favored to win the 4x200m freestyle relay that'll start less than an hour after his win), his 24th overall and what has to be one of the sweetest given that it was the first time he directly avenged a silver medal against the man who'd sent him down the podium.

Le Clos, for all that bluster, didn't even medal, finishing in fourth.

Phelps led for most of the race but a poor final turn and some fatigue down the stretch left the gold in doubt until the final stroke, when he jumped in ahead of Japan's Masato Sakai, who he beat by 0.04. It was vintage Phelps except for the fact that he had to hold on rather than come back.

Despite Sakai's phenomenal swim, the race was all about Phelps vs. Le Clos. Their rivalry intensified last year when Phelps made a legitimate comment about the weakened state of butterfly in his absence. (In a swimming world that's constantly getting faster, the fly times had reverted back to what they were when Phelps first came onto the international scene in 2000.) Le Clos took it personally and started a one-man war of the words.

Then, before Monday night's semifinal, Le Clos danced in front of Phelps and stared him down on the starting blocks in a clear, yet mystifying, attempt to psych out the greatest swimmer to ever grace the pool. Phelps issued a now-famous stare down of his own, won a mostly meaningless semifinal heat and then refused to take the bait laid by Le Clos during press. He said he'd let his actions do the talking and they did - shouting as loud as Brazil's swim center when he and Le Clos hit the homestretch.

More than any other event, the 200 fly has been Phelps' baby, dating back to when he surprised the swimming world by sneaking onto the Olympic team as a 15-year-old in 2000 - the great swimming hope coming onto the international stage earlier than expected. He was the youngest American swimmer in 70 years and the fifth-place finish was a great start, but more of an amuse bouche, if you will.

That was the last time Phelps lost the 200 fly in a major meet for 12 years. He won a slew of golds, set a record, lowered his record and, while expanding his program from Athens to Beijing, kept the 200 fly like a swimming safety blanket.

He was so dominant that in those Beijing Games, Phelps was essentially blinded when his goggles filled with water on his start. He had to count his strokes on each of the four laps, depending on his years of practice and repetition to find the wall. It was easily his worst race of the eight golds from Beijing. Oh, he broke his own world record by 0.06 seconds and shattered his old Olympic record by close to two seconds.

And then came London. Phelps, as he'd done so many times before, led the 200 fly from the start and looked like he'd reverse the disappointment of finishing off the podium in the 400 IM with an easy gold. At the end, however, Phelps finished softly and without much urgency, allowing Le Clos to sneak in with one final stroke to out-touch his idol by 0.05.

The mutual respect turned to a healthy rivalry to the beef that captivated American on Sunday night and then to the biggest swimming race of the Games. Phelps evened the score (and jumped ahead - at least he medaled in Le Clos' win), but there's more to come: Starting Thursday, both will compete in the 100m fly, an event Phelps has won at the last three Olympics.

Don't expect any shadowboxing this time around.