Joseph Schooling beats idol Michael Phelps to win Singapore's first-ever gold
Joseph Schooling brought home gold for his home country of Singapore Friday night, but the historic moment was made even sweeter as he beat his idol, Michael Phelps.
Phelps, who has picked up 22 gold medals so far in his career, met Schooling back in 2008 in Singapore, when the now-rival swimmer was 13 years old. Schooling led throughout the 100-meter butterfly and Phelps couldn't catch up. Schooling finished the race in 50.39 seconds.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Phelps's 51.14 second swim let him tie for silver with South Africa's Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. No bronze medal was awarded.
You May Also Like
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
While Schooling makes history as Singapore's first-ever gold medallist, his grand uncle Lloyd Valberg had a notable Olympic moment of his own. Valberg was the country's first representative to compete at the Olympics, qualifying for the high jump at the 1948 games in London.
"He's been swimming great," Phelps told a poolside NBC reporter of Schooling after the race. "My hat's definitely off to him."
From idol to equal.
Topics Olympics
Brittany Levine Beckman was Mashable's managing editor. She enjoys crafting feature ideas, learning new things, and party parrots. Before working at Mashable, she covered community news at the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. That's how she met a zonkey and the tallest man in the world.
