Dylan Bettencourt
A disappointed Chad le Clos admitted that his fifth-place finish in the men’s 200m butterfly final on Wednesday hurt him.
This is despite the fact that the swimmer came into the event as the underdog but won his semi-final heat.
He looked confident to fight for a spot on the podium in the final but it was not to be.
Le Clos, who has stood on the podium many times in his illustrious career, looked strong at the start and was even leading at the 100m mark.
“I was feeling really good and thought I was going to win at one stage. It stung real bad because I touched at 150m and I had a chance, but coming back, my legs just stopped working,” he said.
He said if he had won he would have retired from the 200m butterfly but he now wants to prove himself in this event at next year’s Commonwealth Games.
Favourite for the race, Hungarian Kristof Milak powered through to take victory and broke Michael Phelps’ record. Milak set a time of 1:51.25.
Le Clos will now turn his attention to the 100m butterfly heats set for Thursday at 12:56pm.
Image source: @TeamSA2020
