Rio Olympics 2016: Michael Phelps could break Olympic record that has stood for 2,000 years
could be about to break an Olympic record that has stood for TWO THOUSAND years.
The American swimmer, 31, currently equals a record that has spanned millenniums after winning the 200-metre butterfly on Tuesday night – the same as ancient runner Leonidas of Rhodes.
Both have won 12 individual titles – and while Baltimore-born Phelps has won 21 gold medals out of a total of 25, nine of them have been relays.
But because there were no relays in Leonidas’ day – let alone competitive swimming as a discipline – historians thinks Phelps could hold the most Olympic titles EVER if he wins the 200 individual medley race tonight in Rio.
Leonidas’ record has stood the test of time, outlasting change in civilisations and world wars – and while Phelps’s gold-medal haul includes titles in five different individual events, Leonidas was a champion in three.
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He won the Stadion, a running race of around 200 yards in Ancient Greece, the Of course, the Diaulos, which was around double the length and the Hoplitodromos, a bizarre foot race were required to wear a helmet, leg armour and carry a shield – all while running in the NUDE.
Leonidas rather impressively won all three races at FOUR straight Olympic Games – in 164BC, 160BC, 156BC and 152BC at the ripe old age of 36 and was unmatched in the ancient world – until Phelps came along.
Phelps passed the modern mark eight years ago when he bested Ray Ewry’s record of eight Olympic titles.
American Ewry raced in the 1900, 1904 and 1908 games winning titles in the high jump, the long jump and the triple jump.