Olympic Swimming 2016: Men's 200M Individual Medley Medal Winners and Times

Michael Phelps—who was already the most decorated Olympian in history—added to his illustrious resume with another gold medal in the men's 200-meter individual medley with a time of one minute, 54.66 seconds in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

He outlasted fellow American and longtime foe Ryan Lochte, who finished in fifth place, as well as silver medalist Kosuke Hagino (Japan) and bronze medalist Wang Shun (China).

Phelps' victory marked his fourth gold medal in Rio and the 22nd of his incredible career. It was also his 26th overall medal, which is the most in Olympic history.

Here is a look at how he finished in relation to the entire eight-man field, per the Rio Games' official website:

Place	Swimmer	Time
1	Michael Phelps (United States)	1:54.66
2	Kosuke Hagino (Japan)	1:56.61
3	Wang Shun (China)	1:57.05
4	Hiromasa Fujimori (Japan)	1:57.21
5	Ryan Lochte (United States)	1:57.47
6	Philip Heintz (Germany)	1:57.48
7	Thiago Pereira (Brazil)	1:58.02
8	Dan Wallace (Great Britain)	1:58.54

Phelps was playing catch-up in the early going, but he pulled away in the freestyle. NBC Olympics shared how far ahead he was compared to the rest of the field by the conclusion of the race:

Phelps already had more Olympic medals than anyone, but he made more history with Thursday's win:

Brazil's Thiago Pereira was ahead after the first 50 meters, but he couldn't maintain his lead with a loaded field chasing him. Lochte caught him and seized the lead through 100 meters thanks to a strong performance on the backstroke, but that wouldn't last with Phelps in pursuit.

Phelps pulled ahead after the first 150 meters and then unleashed his incredible performance on the freestyle in the closing stretch. Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports reacted to Phelps' outing:

While Lochte disappointed and finished off the medal stand, the main storyline coming into Thursday's race was the battle between him and Phelps. Nicole Auerbach of USA Today called their last head-to-head showdown "the final chapter to one of swimming's great rivalries," and Phelps made sure he won it in surefire fashion.

According to the Telegraph, the two swimmers had the 13 fastest times in the history of the event coming into Thursday's race, and they naturally finished first and second in their qualifying heat Wednesday. They each cemented their legacies as the greatest 200-meter individual medley swimmers of all time long ago, but Thursday's performance made it clearer for Phelps.

He also won the event in the previous three Olympics, per BBC.com, and captured gold medals in Rio in the 200-meter butterfly, 4x200-meter freestyle relay and 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

Zach Lowe of ESPN.com had a fitting idea:

Lochte was also on the 4x200-meter freestyle team that took home gold in Rio and shouldn't be overlooked even after his lackluster showing Thursday.

The Telegraph said Lochte "would be described as probably the greatest-ever swimmer" had he not been part of the Phelps era.

Lochte, who has six gold medals, three silver medals and three bronze medals, still owns the world record in the men's 200-meter individual medley, which he set at the 2011 World Championships, per Rachel Lutz of NBC Olympics.

However, Phelps has been the overpowering force in the Olympics and again dominated Thursday.

Reaction

Lochte said what many were thinking after the race when discussing Phelps, per Auerbach, “Nothing he does surprises me anymore.”

As for Phelps, he talked about his overall mindset and his emotion after the win, per Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times: “I say this a lot, but every single day I'm living a dream come true. As a kid, I wanted to do something that no one had ever done before, and I'm enjoying it. Being able to finish how I won is just something very special to me and this is why you are seeing more and more emotion on the medal podium.”

He also talked about what the final race between the two swimmers meant, per Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun: “Him and I have duked it out back and forth, back and forth. This is a special one to both of us. He's the world-record holder and I'm the defending champion.”

Phelps has been the defending Olympic champion in this event since 2004. That wasn’t about to change on Thursday.