21 and counting

It was past 1:00am in the morning, but the media tribune at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro was still buzzing with journalists from around the world. No one bothered to move; no one bothered to leave without having a piece of -- you guessed it -- Michael Phelps.

The journalists waited as the other press conferences started taking place. The sideshows came and talked to the media, with questions asked and answers delivered. Some quickly took down notes on their laptops and sent their reports while others looked on passively. Some others concentrated on their cell phones. They were all waiting for the real deal to arrive. Then Phelps arrived, all on his own, with the air of a man fulfilled.

The last event on the preceding night -- the 4X200m medley relay -- had taken place an hour and a quarter ago. Phelps had anchored the USA team to gold after grabbing an individual gold in his pet event of the 200m butterfly. The butterfly gold was especially significant to Phelps, who had won this title in 2004 and 2008 but lost it to Chad Le Clos of South Africa in 2012. Ever since that defeat in London, Phelps had developed quite a bit of bad blood with the South African.

“I was pretty fired up after that race,” Phelps later said at the press conference, “I didn't say anything to anybody else, but there wasn't a shot in hell I was losing that tonight. And If I did, I was leaving everything in the pool.”

On the night as Phelps powered home, Chad's defence wilted and he faded badly in the last 50 to miss out on a medal. Phelps finished his race in 1min 53.36 seconds and indulged in a lengthy show of braggadocio mixed with pure emotion.

"We are competitors. I don't want him to win and I'm sure he does not want me to win… He and I have not spoken that much here. Kind of what happened four years ago stuck with me. It was a frustrating race for me and it's good for the sport to be able to have a competitor like that," Phelps said.

As soon as he touched the wall, the Baltimore Bullet raised his arms in a V and managed to hold back his tears from welling out at the podium. Then he burst into a fit of maniacal laughter before taking a lap of honour around the pool, to the wild adulation of the crowd and then ended up hugging and kissing his family members.

Phelps's hunt for more gold medals continued on Wednesday as he took part in the heats and semifinals of the 200m individual medley, with the final scheduled for Thursday. "That was a challenging one tonight and now I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. I am not even halfway done yet. But I came in the pool tonight on a mission and the mission was accomplished."