Michael Phelps became the first male swimmer to win the same event at three successive Olympics when he won the men's 200 metres individual medley gold medal at the London Games on Thursday.
Phelps (USA) previously won the event at the Athens and Beijing Games. World champion Ryan Lochte (USA) won silver and Laszlo Cseh (Hungary) took the bronze.
Phelps led all the way and finished in a time of one minute, 54.27 seconds. It was his 20th Olympic medal.
Lochte, who won bronze in the 200m backstroke half an hour before the medley, was 0.63 behind.
Only two swimmers have previously won the same individual event at three successive Olympics: Dawn Fraser (Australia) in the 100m freestyle in 1956, 1960 and 1964, and Krisztina Egerszegi (Hungary) in 200m backstroke in 1988, 1992 and 1996.
