Michael Phelps
Courtesy Details
And he’s in by a hair!
Swimmer Michael Phelps qualified Saturday morning to compete in the 400 individual medley at the London Olympics – but he almost didn’t make it.
The Olympic swimmer, 27, scored the eighth – and final – place for the event. He won his heat in 4 minutes, 13:33 seconds and narrowly eked out a spot in the final from Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, who clocked in at 4:13:40 – just seven-hundreths of a second behind. (Ryan Lochte, the other favored U.S. Olympic swimmer, placed second in his heat.)
Phelps doesn’t seem too worried about his performance. “The only thing that matters is getting a spot in,” he said afterwards. “You can’t win a gold medal from the morning.”
Should Phelps win the event Saturday, he will be the first male swimmer to nab a gold medal in the same individual event at three consecutive Olympics. He has won 8 gold medals and 16 medals overall.
But he does face some challenges: he will be swimming in Lane 8, which is typically a difficult lane to swim in due to waves rolling off the pool wall.
Do you think Michael Phelps will win or lose? Tune in tonight on NBC at 2:30 ET to find out!
