Phelps gets revenge on le Clos, captures gold in 200m butterfly

Michael Phelps captured the 200m butterfly gold medal, defeating South Africa's Chad le Clos, who won the event in 2012.

The victory marks Phelps' 20th gold medal of his illustrious career. Phelps posted a time of 1:53.36, narrowly defeating Japan's Masato Sakai, who finished at 1:53.40. Hungary's Tamas Kenderesi won the bronze medal, coming in at 1:53.62.

Le Clos, who is known to finish strong, faltered down the stretch and finished fourth at 1:54.06.

Phelps and le Clos' contentious relationship was further aggravated Monday, prior to the 200m butterfly semifinal. As Phelps silently prepared for the race, le Clos danced in his vicinity, as the American stared on blankly.

"He does his thing, I do my thing," Phelps said Monday, when asked about le Clos' pregame strategy.

Previously, le Clos infuriated Phelps upon capturing the 100m butterfly at the 2015 World Championships.

"Michael Phelps has been talking about how slow the butterfly events have been recently. I just did a time he hasn’t done in four years. So he can keep quiet now," le Clos said at the time.

Phelps also anchored the U.S. to victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay later Tuesday evening.