Rio de Janeiro - "There was no way I was losing that race tonight."
Michael Phelps could have used a thousand words to sum up his emotions, but those ten told the world everything about what it meant to him to set his incredible straight, as he wrestled back the 200m Olympic butterfly title that Chad le Clos stole four years ago.
"I was really fired up after that (200m) butterfly final. I really wanted that one back. Watching the (2012) race again, it frustrated me. I don't care about the time. I'm just happy I won."
Phelps showed rare emotion at the finish and then on the podium. In the pool, he stood imperiously, like the heavyweight his duel with Le Clos had billed him as. On the podium, he was almost in tears, as he started to reflect on a storied career that is still not quite done. He still figures on another seven races in his swansong Games.
Phelps also acknowledged Le Clos despite his fourth-place finish. After all, we may not have seen the history made if Le Clos hadn't derailed history four years back.
"He is a very good racer, and he is not scared to put it on the line, as he showed in the 200 freestyle. The kid's got talent," he nodded, subtly putting Le Clos in his place.
In truth, Le Clos is just a kid compared to Phelps. He is in just his second Games. His time will still come, perhaps in 2020, when he races Phelps-free, and focuses on his own race again.
"It's good for the sport to have a competitor like that, who races in multiple events," Phelps added.
But this morning was all about Phelps. Not once, not twice, but thrice the American anthem belted out at the Aquatics Centre, on a night of history for the Stars and Stripes.
Ultimately, the only name on everybody's lips was that of Phelps, who also added the 4x200m freestyle relay gold to his ridiculous collection.
After his latest, and perhaps greatest feats, the incomparable Phelps is almost at the point of requiring his own anthem.
His medal count swelled to 25 medals by the early hours of on Wednesday morning, 21 of them gold. His 20th was perhaps one of his most significant, in the 200m butterfly.
At 31, with a wife and baby Boomer in the stands, Phelps didn't have to come back to this stage. Those beyond 30 aren't supposed to still be relevant at this stage, never mind dominating and extending the chasm between him and the rest.
The rest includes hundreds of countries, as he now sits 31st, alone, in the nation medal count of all time.
"That's a lot of medals. It's insane. It's mind blowing."
For once, he looked at a bit of a loss, as the magnitude of all five Olympic Games started to hit home.
The sheer scale of it is extraordinary, and the ovation he received from a packed media mob, beyond 1am and many deadlines, was testimony to his standing in the pantheon of Olympic legends.
He truly is The Greatest Olympian.
Ever.
Independent Media