With his Thursday night victory in the 200-meter individual medley at the Rio Olympics, Phelps now has 22 of them and still counting. Enough golds to further cement his status as the most-decorated Olympian of all time and som how even more impressively enough individual victories to break a more than 2,000-year-old Olympic record, set by Leonidas of Rhodes in 152 B.C.
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.
