Phelps beats Lochte in 200 IM to secure Another Gold Medal

By PAUL NEWBERRY | Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Michael Phelps spent the day thinking about all the things he's doing for the final time at the pool. It turns out that included one last win over Ryan Lochte.

Phelps finally has a gold all his own at his final Olympics.

Adding to an already unprecedented medal collection, he claimed his first individual victory of the London Games and handed Lochte a double disappointment on his rival's final night in the pool Thursday.

Phelps set the tone right from the start with a dominating butterfly leg to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three straight Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley. He claimed his 20th career medal — and 16th gold — in 1 minute, 54.27 seconds, just off his winning time in Beijing but still good enough for gold, just ahead of Lochte.

When it was done, there wasn't that water-pounding celebration we've seen so many times from Phelps — just a slight smile as he hung on the lane rope, gazing up at the stands and soaking it all in.

"Going into every call room, I said it's my last semifinal or my last prelim," Phelps said, reflecting on a busy day that included a morning swim, then two more races in the evening. "We're kind of chalking up all the lasts of certain things."

As he stepped on the medal podium — yep, that familiar top rung — Phelps' eyes were glassy and he whispered something to Lochte. Then, staring up at the U.S. flag while the nation anthem played, he bit his lip and seemed to be struggling to hold back the tears.

Phelps has never been too revealing with his emotions away from the pool.

But, with just two days to go in his swimming career, there's a definite chink in the facade.

He's starting to look as human out of the water as he is superhuman in it.

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Greece's Voula Papachristou expelled from Olympics

Greece's Voula Papachristou expelled from Olympics

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Paraskevi "Voula" Papachristou is ‘bitter and upset’ after a racist tweet gets her kicked out of Olympics.

Greece's Voula Papachristou lands in the sand after her jump at the Women's Triple Jump final at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, in this file photo dated Friday, June 29, 2012. The Hellenic Olympic Committee has removed triple jumper Voula Papachristou from the team taking part in the upcoming London Olympic Games over comments she made on Twitter making fun of African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party. “The track and field athlete Paraskevi (Voula) Papachristou is placed outside the Olympic Team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement,” a statement by the Hellenic Olympic Committee says. Papachristou is in Athens, and was to travel to London “shortly before the track events start,” the announcement says. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, file)

Parents of Olympian's reaction is Golden, Daughter Doesn't place

The parents of U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman are no different. And like Debbie Phelps, the mother of Michael Phelps, and other parents before them, the Raismans can find it excruciating to watch their daughter in competition. Case in point: the Raismans watching Aly during the uneven bars segment of the women's gymnastics preliminary competition. As entertaining as Raisman's routine was on on the bars, her parent's routine was equally worth a second look.

As this short video shows, Aly's parents -- Lynn and Ricky -- have a harder time taking in their daughter on the bars in fear of mistakes or injury. Both parents are different in their own way when it comes to handling their nerves, whenever Aly is in the spotlight, Lynn is talking and squirming her way through her entire routine while Ricky remains nearly silent until its conclusion. where he'll often offer an explosive "Yeah!" almost as if, his daughter had just won something bigger than the Lotto.

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