Michael Phelps is human after all.Themost decorated Olympian in history captured his 27th overall medal of his career in the men's 100-meter butterfly on Friday, but it was a silver instead of gold. He was part of a three-way tie for second behind gold medalist Joseph Schooling from Singapore.Schooling finished with a time of 50.39 seconds, while Phelps, Chad Le Clos (South Africa) and Laszlo Cseh (Hungary) posted times of 51.14 seconds.Here is a look at how the entire eight-man field finished:Schooling jumped out to the lead after 50 meters and then finished strong, outlasting the best Olympian in history. NBC Olympics shared just how close it was at the end:NBC Olympics also noted it wasn't the first time Phelps met with Schooling:Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports said it was the first time in Phelps' career that he didn't win the 100-meter butterfly in the Olympics, which came as a shock to those who watched his dominance in the early going in Rio:Passan also reacted to the fact there was a three-way tie for second place:Despite the silver medal instead of his normal gold, Phelps had plenty of momentum coming into the race after he won the men's 200-meter individual medley on Thursday. He beat a field that included fellow American Ryan Lochte (fifth place) and looked dominant doing so with a strong closing stretch in freestyle.Phelps also took home gold medals in the 200-meter butterfly, 4x200-meter freestyle relay and 4x100-meter freestyle relay in these Games. He may be 31 years old and competing in his fifth Olympics, but Phelps still looks like an overpowering force in the pool. However, Schooling finally proved that someone can match his greatness in Friday's competition.A silver medal is an incredible accomplishment, but it is hard to call Friday's result anything but a surprise considering Phelpsearned gold in the men's 100-meter butterfly in the three previous Olympics as well, pertheTelegraph. He isalso the world-record holder in the event (49.82 seconds), perOlympic.org, but didn't have the strong finishing kick on Friday he has at times throughout his career.He didn't turn in the fastest qualifying time Thursday either, although the semifinal heats came shortly after he won the 200-meter individual medley. Fatigue likely played a role in that outcome.This may be it for Phelps' individual swimming career in the Olympics, but Lochte actually said, "I guarantee he will be there" when talking about the chances the all-time great will swim in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo,per theAssociated Press, via NBCOlympics.com.If that is the case, he will have a gold medal to win in the men's 100-meter butterfly after losing his grip on the event Friday.ReactionPhelps cut short any speculation that he may be back in four years after the race, per Martin Rogers of USA Today: I will just clarify that Ryan doesnt know what he is talking about. I am not coming back in four years.He also discussed the future of the sport without him, per Rogers: It will be fun (for me) to watch. This sport will be fun over the next four years to see how it transitions. There are a lot of young kids and they show how much talent they have here.As for Schooling, he put his victory into perspective, per Karen Crouse of the New York Times:As a kid I wanted to be like him. Its crazy to think of what happens in eight years. A lot of this is because of Michael. Hes the reason I wanted to be a better swimmer.Now Schooling can serve as the inspiration for a future generation of swimmers after his gold medal on Friday.
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