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When Chad Le Clos beat out uber-Olympian Micheal Phelps to take gold in the 200m butterfly in London four years ago, it was the upset of the 2012 Olympics.
Who can forget that moment Chad struggled to fight back the tears while listening to the national anthem blaring throughout the stadium as he revelled in glory? So when Phelps, who was due to retire after the London Games but subsequently changed his mind (something to do with the lost gold, perhaps?) was due to take on SA star Chad in the same race in this year's games, SA-American swimming fan rivalry reached fever pitch. Adding fuel to the proverbial fire was the viral 'Micheal Phelps death stare' in which the long-time Olympian appeared to be staring daggers at our boy before the 200m butterfly semi-final. According to (most US)reports Chad had been taunting his rival during the warm up in "preening in front of Phelps, shadowboxing and dancing around, clearly thinking he was getting in Phelps head," as Fox Sports put it.
Can you say 'psych battle' ?@chadleclos vs @MichaelPhelps#Rio2016 Pic: @KylePorterCBS pic.twitter.com/bgAmEsbD6q — 7s in South Africa (@BlitzBokke) August 9, 2016
Michael Phelps. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/mewOF4N0CI — nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) August 9, 2016
But come D-Day on Tuesday, Phelps reclaimed that gold he missed out on four years ago. South Africans woke to the news that not only had Chad not won gold, but had failed to get onto the podium at all being left to contend with a fourth place finish.
And so the glory went to Michael Phelps, and deservedly so. Phelps is cited as the most decorated Olympian of all time and holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals -- 21.
That's more than twice that of the second highest record holders. Twitter exploded with people acknowledging Phelp's greatness: "Michael Phelps is not human," one fan tweeted, while another put things into perspective with the joke "Michael Phelp's gold medal count can now legally drink!"
Unfortunately a few over-excited Phelps fans took things a little too far and started bashing Chad on Twitter.
Another troll took the conversation to Chad's Wikipedia page, where he edited the swimming star's his personal bio to read:
"He died by the hands of Michael Phelps, being literally blown out of the water by the greatest American since Abraham Lincoln."
Wikipedia eventually disabled edits on Chad's page. Unfortunately, nasty tweets and memes couldn't be quelled.
GET BODIED LE CLOS ???????????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/edzWpF8Ukl — Barstool Sports (@barstooltweets) August 10, 2016
@chadleclos you didn't even medal bro hahahahaha — Fred (@FredSlvestre) August 10, 2016
Looks like Michael Phelps got the best of Chad Le Clos.... #Rio2016 #swimming #PhelpsFace pic.twitter.com/tXnKpiVybt — Eric Fawcett (@Efawcett7) August 10, 2016
Let's check in with Chad Le Clos, I believe senior swimming analyst DJ Khaled has some words of recognition for him: pic.twitter.com/wB2dnbVumu — Adam Jacobi (@Adam_Jacobi) August 10, 2016
Not even Le Clos... #Olympics pic.twitter.com/7CWqSh4EJ2 — AD (@AdrianNeenan) August 10, 2016
Thankyou for your continued hoisting of our flag @chadleclos ?????? — RSA Min of Sport (@MbalulaFikile) August 10, 2016
Heartbroken for @chadleclos! It takes a lot of guts to even compete with so much happening in your life like that. Team #RSA ? — IG & SC: @roxyburger (@roxyburger) August 10, 2016
Well done @chadleclos you made South Africa proud!!! #Olympics #RSA — Karabo Mokgoko (@Kay_Angel) August 10, 2016
SMH, 'Mericans messing with @chadleclos's wiki page. But is all good. Y'all about to BE the joke. Trump's about to become your leader. — Tumi Tladi (@MsTumelo) August 10, 2016
Sources: Sport24, MailOnline, Fox News
Read more: SA hearts break for Chad after Michael Phelps swims to gold in 200 m butterfly Chad Le Clos reveals heartbreaking news ahead of Rio Olympics Your guide to the Rio Olympics: These are the events you can’t afford to miss
