By his own admission, Michael Phelps could not have scripted it better as he won back the title closest to his heart on an evening of pure gold for the most medaled Olympic athlete of all time.

The 200m butterfly was the first race he swam at an Olympics, at Sydney in 2000, winning the race. It was also the gold that got away - the one he wanted back after being beaten by a fingertip at the 2012 London Games by South African Chad Le Clos.

It hurt so much that Phelps made it his mission to exact revenge in Rio and win it one last time.