Michael Phelp’s Cocky Rival Was Shadowboxing ….then Phelps DESTROYED Him and Won Gold

What’s beef? Beef is staring down your mouthy rival in the ready room as he dances around like Apollo Creed in a bizarre, futile attempt to psych out the world’s greatest swimmer.

That’s what Michael Phelps did to Chad Le Clos on Monday night while they were waiting for the start of their 200 butterfly race. It was their first showdown in the event since 2012, when Le Clos stunned the world by knocking off Phelps in his signature event by 0.05 seconds to win gold and deliver Phelps to a shocking silver. With that four-year-old win under his belt, Le Clos was dancing, shadowboxing and staring down the guy he beat once and the guy who has 18 more gold medals than him. In addition to all the ready-room histrionics, Le Clos kept his eyes on Phelps when they went out to the blocks. While he kept leering at Phelps, who looked completely unaware of the one-man stare down, Le Clos dramatically ripped off his jacket, like the jukebox had just stopped at the malt shop and he was looking to have a little scrap before The Fonz broke it up. The whole thing was bizarre.

Phelps led for most of the race but a poor final turn and some fatigue down the stretch left the gold in doubt until the final stroke, when he jumped in ahead of Japan’s Masato Sakai, who he beat by 0.04. It was vintage Phelps except for the fact that he had to hold on rather than come back.

Despite Sakai’s phenomenal swim, the race was all about Phelps vs. Le Clos. Their rivalry intensified last year when Phelps made a legitimate comment about the weakened state of butterfly in his absence. (In a swimming world that’s constantly getting faster, the fly times had reverted back to what they were when Phelps first came onto the international scene in 2000.) Le Clos took it personally and started a one-man war of the words.

Then, before Monday night’s semifinal, Le Clos danced in front of Phelps and stared him down on the starting blocks in a clear, yet mystifying, attempt to psych out the greatest swimmer to ever grace the pool. Phelps issued a now-famous stare down of his own, won a mostly meaningless semifinal heat and then refused to take the bait laid by Le Clos during press. He said he’d let his actions do the talking and they did – shouting as loud as Brazil’s swim center when he and Le Clos hit the homestretch.