Phelps bows out with a flourish

Most successful Olympian in history rewrote record book

Michael Phelps of the US signs off from Rio with five gold medals: 4x100m freestyle relay, 200m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay, 200m individual medley relay and 4x100m medley relay. [Photo/Xinhua]

Michael Phelps closed out his Rio Olympics in the only way imaginable.

Golden.

Phelps put the United States ahead to stay in the butterfly leg of Saturday's 4x100m medley relay and Nathan Adrian finished it off, giving the most decorated athlete in Olympic history his 23rd career gold medal.

If that was the end - and Phelps insists it is - it was a spectacular way to go out.

He has 28 medals overall, after winning five golds and a silver at these Games.

"This is how I wanted to finish my career," Phelps said.

"Getting off the bus and walking to the pool tonight, I pretty much felt myself starting to cry. Last time putting on a suit, last time walking out in front of thousands of people to represent my country."

As Adrian touched the wall, Phelps hugged his other relay teammates, Ryan Murphy and Cody Miller. One night after his only setback in Rio, an upset loss to Joseph Schooling in the 100m butterfly, Phelps was back on top.

In the stands, his fiancee, Nicole Johnson, bounced along to the music with their son, three-month-old Boomer, cradled in her arms.

Phelps is eager to spend a lot more time with them. He plans to marry Johnson after the Games and said he wants to watch his son grow - maybe even dole out a swimming lesson or two.

Most of the US swim team was in the stands to watch Phelps' finale, including the biggest female star of these Games, Katie Ledecky.

The 19-year-old Ledecky joked that she was proud to be part of Phelps' final Olympics - twice. He initially retired after the 2012 London Olympics, only to decide about a year later to return to the pool.

The comeback endured a huge setback with his second drunken-driving arrest in 2014, which led to Phelps being banned from the world championships the following year. But it also sparked a turnaround in his life.

He entered six weeks of inpatient therapy, where he got in touch with some of the issues that seemed to lead him astray outside the pool.

He quit drinking, reconnected with his estranged father, got engaged, moved to Arizona with his longtime coach Bob Bowman, and became a father.

At 31, he sounds much more adamant when he says his swimming career really is over.

"These Games really showed his growth," teammate Anthony Ervin said.

"That human spirit, that capacity to heal. I think it showed in his swimming, it showed in his demeanor ... and it certainly showed in his leadership on the team."

Phelps was elected a team captain for the first time in his career - this was his fifth Olympics - and truly seemed to enjoy being around his fellow swimmers.

"Being Michael requires such isolation," Ervin said. "Other people respect that. They give him that space because he is the greatest.

"But this time around he started reaching out, reaching out to other people, bringing them closer, letting that gap be bridged.

"That was special."

Standing atop the medal podium for the 23rd time, listening to the US anthem as he's done so many times, Phelps teared up a bit and gave a little nod.

Then he and his teammates grabbed a sign that said, "Thank you Rio."

Two-time gold medalist Murphy put the Americans out front with a world-record split in the backstroke, but Britain surged ahead in the breaststroke with its own world-record holder, Adam Peaty.

Phelps dove into the pool in second place - but he wouldn't be there for long.

On the return lap, Phelps powered through the water with his whirling butterfly stroke, surging ahead of James Guy to pass off a lead to anchor Adrian.

It wasn't in doubt after that.

Adrian pulled away in the freestyle to win in an Olympic-record time of 3 min, 27.95 sec. Britain held on for silver and Australia nabbed bronze.

The victory came just minutes after the women's medley relay gave the US its 1,000th Olympic gold medal at the Summer Games.

"A thousand golds for Team USA," said Simone Manuel, who swam the anchor leg for her second gold of the Games and second medal of the night.

"That's a nice number."