Michael Phelps
was denied a fifth gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics. And by whom? Someone who brought his country its first Olympic gold, someone who has considered Phelps his idol since he was a child, someone who wants to be nothing short of the phenomenon that Phelps is, someone named Joseph Schooling.
Singapore
's Schooling, 21, clocked 50.39 in the men's 100m butterfly on Friday and ensured Phelps went out without his 23rd gold in the final swim of his extraordinary career. Phelps finished second in a three-way dead heat with two of his greatest rivals - South African Chad Le Clos and Hungary's Laszlo Cseh.
"As a kid I wanted to be like him," said Schooling, who had got a photograph clicked with Phelps before the American's eight-gold medal winning performance at the 2008 Olympics. "It's crazy to think of what happens in eight years," Schooling said, adding, "A lot of this is because of Michael. He's the reason I wanted to be a better swimmer."