[h=3]By RACHEL BACHMAN[/h]
European Pressphoto AgencyMissy Franklin celebrated after winning the women's 200-meter backstroke Friday.
LONDON—American teenager Missy Franklin set a world record in the 200-meter backstroke Friday night, and Michael Phelps won his final individual race to add to his record Olympic medal count.
Franklin won in 2:04.06 and blasted past the previous record by nearly a second. The Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry set the mark of 2:04.81 in 2009.
At just 17 years old, Franklin has been the breakout female swimming star of these Olympics. She has won three golds—in the 100-meter backstroke and 4x200-meter freestyle relay—and a bronze in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Franklin finished fourth in the 200-meter freestyle and 5th in the 100-meter freestyle. The women's 4-by-100-meter medley relay Saturday will be her final event.
Franklin's win marks the first time an American woman has won the event since 1972, and the third time in history.
European Pressphoto AgencyMichael Phelps took gold in what he called his final Olympic race Friday.
Phelps, no stranger to rewriting history, swam after Franklin and won the 100-meter butterfly for the third time in three Olympics. It was the second time in two days that Phelps three-peated. On Thursday, he won the 200-meter medley for the third time.
No other American male swimmer has ever won the same event in three Olympics. Phelps finished in 51.21, ahead of South African Chad le Clos and Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin, who tied at 51.44.
The victory brings Phelps's career Olympic medal total to 21, more than any other athlete in history. He has said the London Games will be his last world-level swimming competition. Saturday's 4-by-100-meter medley relay will be his last event.
LONDON—American teenager Missy Franklin set a world record in the 200-meter backstroke Friday night, and Michael Phelps won his final individual race to add to his record Olympic medal count.
Franklin won in 2:04.06 and blasted past the previous record by nearly a second. The Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry set the mark of 2:04.81 in 2009.
At just 17 years old, Franklin has been the breakout female swimming star of these Olympics. She has won three golds—in the 100-meter backstroke and 4x200-meter freestyle relay—and a bronze in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Franklin finished fourth in the 200-meter freestyle and 5th in the 100-meter freestyle. The women's 4-by-100-meter medley relay Saturday will be her final event.
Franklin's win marks the first time an American woman has won the event since 1972, and the third time in history.
European Pressphoto AgencyMichael Phelps took gold in what he called his final Olympic race Friday.
Phelps, no stranger to rewriting history, swam after Franklin and won the 100-meter butterfly for the third time in three Olympics. It was the second time in two days that Phelps three-peated. On Thursday, he won the 200-meter medley for the third time.
No other American male swimmer has ever won the same event in three Olympics. Phelps finished in 51.21, ahead of South African Chad le Clos and Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin, who tied at 51.44.
The victory brings Phelps's career Olympic medal total to 21, more than any other athlete in history. He has said the London Games will be his last world-level swimming competition. Saturday's 4-by-100-meter medley relay will be his last event.