As if to stamp his godlike
authority on the Olympics for good measure, Michael Phelps has taken athletic
achievement to Olympian heights by smashing a record that has remained
untouched for two millennia.
The American won his 22nd gold medal
today, 9 have come from relays while 13 are individual triumphs. The
31-year-old swimmer won his 13th gold medal in the 200metres men's event to
surpass the 2000-year record set by Greek Olympian, Leonidas of Rhodes who won
12 individual gold medals.
Leonidas competed in
four successive Olympiads in 164BC, 160BC, 156BC and 152BC and in each of these
he won three different foot races.
An athlete who won three events at a
single Olympics was known as a triastes, or tripler. There were only seven
triastes and Leonidas is the only one known to have achieved the honour more
than once. there were no consolation prizes at the Olympics, no silver
and bronze, you either won or lost.
He was 36 when he did it on the
fourth occasion - five years older than Phelps is today.
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