DETAILED HISTORY OF THE MICHAEL PHELPS/CHAD LE CLOS FEUD!
Keeping in mind the sudden turn of events in the swimming category of the Rio Olympics tournament, of note is a detailed and concise history below of Michael Phelps and Chad Le Clos coming against each other from way back at Olympic tournaments.
July 2012: Chad le Clos beats Michael Phelps by five hundredths of a second at the 2012 London Olympic games during the 200-meter butterfly race. After the games, Phelps announces his retirement.
April 2014: Phelps comes out of retirement to compete in his first meet since leaving the sport; significantly, he does not compete in the 200-meter fly, saying that he would never enter the race again.
May 2015: Phelps has a change of heart and competes in the 200-meter fly at the Arena Pro Series, telling reporters that the times that competitors have been clocking in the event are “really not that fast.”
August 2015: After winning the 100-meter fly at the 2015 FINA World Championships, Le Clos had choice words about Phelps. “Michael Phelps has been talking about how slow the butterfly events have been recently,” he said. “I just did a time he hasn’t done in four years. So he can keep quiet now.”
Later that day, Phelps beat le Clos’ time in the 100-meter fly at the Phillips 66 National Championships and responded to le Clos’ statements. “There are a lot of things I could say. But I won’t,” he said. “I’m going to let what I do in the pool do my talking.”
Le Clos and his father, however, answer with more sports analysis; le Clos states, “I’m just very happy that he’s back to his good form, so he can’t come out and say, ‘Oh, I haven’t been training,’ or all that rubbish that he’s been talking,” while the elder le Clos told the AP that he was confident that Chad would beat Phelps. “However fast Michael goes, we go faster. I don’t care about his times, because I know my son is going to beat him.”
November 2015: In an interview with Sport 360, le Clos reveals that he was hurt by the rift with Phelps, but also takes the opportunity to throw shade at his opponent. “If I was as great as he was, I would conduct myself in a way children would be proud of…I thought I was good friends with him, clearly not. I don’t think he likes me very much.”
August 2016: Phelps and le Clos meet again in Rio, where spectators are equally bemused as they are intrigued by le Clos shadow boxing and dancing before the preliminary race as Phelps glowered in a corner, giving us the meme of the Olympic games, heretofore referred to as #PhelpsFace.
