American swim legend Michael Phelp continues to role in the pool as he won his 20th and 21st Olympic gold medal. He took out a thrilling 200m butterfly final then backing up to anchor Team USA’s victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Phelps, 31, became the oldest individual men’s swimming gold medallist in Olympic history, touching in 1:53.36sec to beat home Japan’s Masato Sakai in 1:53.40 and Hungary’s Tamas Kenderesi in 1:53.62.

He had to withstand a heart-stopping challenge near the wall but got the touch to put even more distance between himself and the next-most prolific Olympic gold medallists (nine- Larisa Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis).

He then added yet another gold later in the night in the men’s 4x200m relay, anchoring Team USA’s swim of 7:00.66. They led Great Britain and Japan home, while Australia just missed the medals in fourth.

Phelps still has the 200m individual medley, the 100m butterfly and the medley relay to swim, meaning he could finish the Olympics with an absurd 24 golds.

Phelps’ CV is unprecedented. He has 24 medals across four Olympics, with six golds and two bronzes at Athens 2004, a record eight golds at Beijing 2008, four golds and two silvers at London 2012, and already two golds in Rio, having also tasted victory in the 4x100m freestyle with Team USA. He also swam at Sydney 2000, as the youngest male to make a US Olympic swim team in 68 years.

HIJAB OVER BIKINIS IN BEACH VOLLEYBALL

An Egyptian beach volleyball player who shunned the sport’s standard dress code – wearing a hijab, long sleeves and trousers – refused to let her choice of clothing keep her from competing in Rio.

Doaa Elghobashy wore a hijab while playing with partner Nada Meawad against Germany, making hisory as Egypt’s first beach volleyball compeititors at the Olympics.

Her attire was in stark contrast with that of her opponents with their bikinis, but Elghobashy said it didn’t stop her from competing at the highest level.

“I have worn the hijab for 10 years. It doesn’t keep me from the things I love to do, and beach volleyball is one of them,” she told the Associated Press after Egypt’s 21-12, 21-15 loss.

“I’m proud to be seen raising the Egyptian flag in a carnival with so many nations.”

The Egyptian pair qualified for the Rio Olympics as part of an effort aimed to open the sport up to countries which are not traditional beach volleyball powerhouses. The International Volleyball Federation eased their rules around the size of uniforms before the 2012 Olympics, allowing long sleeves and trousers.

DIVING POOL WATER TURNS GREEN

Green, not gold, was the colour of the day at the Olympic diving venue. Sure, China won their third consecutive gold medal today, but the buzz was about the colour of the water in the diving pool – a murky green.

That was in stark contrast to the pool’s light blue colour the previous day and also that of the clear water in the second pool used for the water polo competition at Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre.

British diver Tom Daley, who earned bronze in men’s synchronised 10-meter on Monday, tweeted a photo of the two pools next to each other and captioned it, “Ermmm … what happened?!”

Water quality has been a major issue surrounding the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but in the ocean and lagoons, not the pools.

A statement from Olympic organisers said water tests were conducted and there was no risk to athletes. They couldn’t explain the colour change, but said it’s being investigated.

“We don’t know exactly what happened,” organising committee spokesman Mario Andrada said. “And we don’t know yet why the pool changed colours.

“If it were green and yellow, we would know it was a patriotic thing,” Andrada joked, referring to Brazil’s national colors. “We did test the water using the same parameters we do every day, and the results were exactly the same as we got when the pool was blue.”

FACEMASK SAGA IN HOCKEY

Australian media has questioned the bravery of the Kiwi women’s hockey team, implying players were “soft” after several players wore facemasks during a game at the Rio Olympics.

The Daily Mail Australia asked if “this [was] the moment hockey went soft?” in a story covering the Black Sticks’ 2-1 loss to Germany. The masks were worn as Germany took a penalty corner, where they scored the game-clinching goal.

Wearing facemasks for protection is common practice in field hockey during pentalty corners, with all teams using them. A representative for the team explained the players use the masks to protect themselves from powerful drag flicks, but they are then taken off and thrown behind the goal after the ball is cleared.

The team also took to social media to voice their disapproval of the claim, tweeting that the story was “one of the most ignorant and unbalanced” of the Games.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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