Le Clos seals shot at redemption
After the disappointment of missing a podium spot in the 200m butterfly final, Chad le Clos has a chance to make amends this weekend.
The Durban swimmer finished fourth in the 200m final earlier this week and was openly gutted with his performance. His pre-race shadow-boxing antics (watch below) seemed to incense eventual winner Michael Phelps, who cruised to victory in that race.
Having put that behind him, Le Clos still felt that faster times could be posted in the 100m final on Saturday. He posted a time of 51.43 seconds in the semi-final race in the early hours of Friday morning – the second fastest qualifying time going into the final.
“We have to be faster. That was pretty slow, I think for everyone. I am happy to be in the final ofcourse, I came second so that is pretty cool – lane five again,” Le Clos said after the race.
“I’m still a little bit shaken from the other night. But like I said that is behind me and I’m just happy to be out there and shake the nerves off. I feel much better now than I do two or three days ago.”
Le Clos remained critical of his performance in the 100 m race and admitted that he hadn’t had a good finish. But he also said the whole field had swum the race slowly.
“Very slow. I know Michael had just come out of the Individual Medley so I’m pretty sure he will finish sub 51 seconds.
“It’s going to be a pretty fast pace. I’m not sure where Phelps will be in the field, I haven’t worked it out yet but it will be nice if he’s next to me and we can all be swimming into the stretch together.”
The 100m final gets underway at 03h12 on Saturday morning.
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