Michael Phelps wins 20th Olympic gold medal
American swimmer Michael Phelps earned his 20th Olympic gold on Tuesday at the Rio Olympics, and his 24th Olympic medal overall, after winning the 200m butterfly.
The 31-year-old, who set the world record in the event in 2009, finished the race in 1:53.36, just .04 seconds ahead of silver medalist Masato Sakai of Japan. During the 2012 Olympics, Phelps took the silver medal in the 200m butterfly, finishing behind South Africa's Chad le Clos. This year, le Clos came in fourth with a time of 1:54.06.
Update: An hour after he won his 20th gold medal in the 200m butterfly, Phelps won the gold as part of the 4x200m freestyle relay, swimming with Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, and Townley Haas. He now has 25 Olympic medals overall.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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