Le Clos now eyeing 100m butterfly after ‘body didn’t work’ in 200m

THE 200m butterfly final at the Tokyo Olympics was like Chad le Clos had gone 12 rounds in a boxing title fight, where he had led on the judges’ scorecards at one stage, and then was knocked out in the final round.

At least that is how it seemed to be at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre yesterday, and in the end, the determined Le Clos remained unbowed, insisting that he was going to add to his four Olympic medals one day.

The 29-year-old was impressive in how he went about his race. Coming up against world record-holder Kristof Milak of Hungary was a tall order, as the 21-year-old is just operating on another level at the moment.

But Le Clos was less than two-tenths of a second behind Milak after the first 50 metres, and then even edged ahead after the 150m mark.

Milak duly caught him on the final

50m stretch to take the gold medal in a new Olympic record of 1:51.25, but the South African would’ve been confident of at least ending up with a podium finish at that stage.

It wasn’t to be, though, as he faded away to fifth spot in 1:54.93, with Tomoru Honda of Japan second in 1:53.73, while Italy’s Federico Burdisso (1:54.45) grabbed the bronze.

“It was going to be tough to beat him (Milak) anyway, so well deserved for him. The Japanese boy got second, 1:53 from lane eight, so he saved his best swim for the last one, so fair play. The Italian boy got third, 1:54, so half-a-second off the medals,” Le Clos said.

“I guess it’s not the (end of the world). I just think 1:54 is like … I worked hard this year, and I deserved to be better than that.

“I don’t think too much about (Milak’s pace) – I just want to race. It sucks, because my mind and my soul deserved better than what I put out there, you know – it really does. It’s a bit sad.

“I know I am mentally stronger than all these guys. Sometimes it doesn’t come together, you know – it is what it is. I felt great, looking at everyone and feeling excited, like I usually do.

“I wasn’t off. It’s just, the body didn’t work. The body didn’t come back (in the last 50 metres), unfortunately. It is what it is.”

Le Clos said earlier in the week that he would not stop racing as he is searching for more medals, and he might even continue up until the 2024 Paris Olympics.

He is eyeing up the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but his immediate focus will turn to the 100m butterfly, where he will begin his campaign in the heats today.

American Caeleb Dressel is the big favourite and world record-holder, but Le Clos won the silver medal at the last two Olympics in the 100m butterfly.

He clearly still has the fight in him, but he will need to negotiate the heats and semi-finals first before he can think of Saturday’s final.