RIO DE JANEIRO—Michael Phelps swept to a jaw-dropping 22nd Olympic gold Thursday as China’s Chen Xinyi failed a doping test to cast a shadow over the Rio swimming competition.
While Phelps became one of only three athletes to have won titles in the same individual event at four straight Games, Chen tested positive for a diuretic, the Chinese Swimming Association told state media.
There was a stunning upset in the women’s competition as Australian world record-holder Cate Campbell inexplicably flopped in the 100m freestyle which ended in a dead heat for gold, but there was no escaping Phelps as he romped to his fourth gold of the Rio Olympics.
The record-breaking American stormed to victory in the 200m individual medley to match his London tally four years ago.
Competing in his fifth and final Olympics, Phelps joined Al Oerter in the discus (1956-68) and Carl Lewis in the long jump (1984-96) as the only members of the exclusive four-in-a-row club.
Phelps utterly dominated a final which crackled with tension and brought the curtain down on his 12-year rivalry with fellow American Ryan Lochte.
After a strong start from local favorite Thiago Pereira, Phelps took charge on the backstroke leg before powering away to win in one minute, 54.66 seconds—almost two seconds clear of Japan’s Kosuke Hagino in second.
Hagino, who won the 400m medley last weekend, produced a quick finish to pinch silver in 1:56.61, with China’s Wang Shun coming through for a surprise bronze in 1:57.05.
Lochte, a six-time Olympic champion, could only finish fifth, while Pereira faded badly and he trailed home seventh.
A little more than half-an-hour later, having collected his gold medal, Phelps returned to qualify fifth fastest for Friday’s 100m butterfly final—another event he won in Athens, Beijing and London.
“It’s been a hell of a career,” said Phelps, who could still equal his Athens tally of six gold medals, two shy of his epic Beijing haul.