19-year-old Hungarian swimmer Kristóf Milák wins gold medal in the men’s 200m butterfly at the World Swimming Championships in Quangjiang on Wednesday, breaking Michael Phelps’ world record set nearly 10 years ago.
The young Hungarian swimmer hit the finish line with an astonishing time of 1:50.73 minutes, ending Michael Phelps’s reign set with 1:51.51 back in 2009.
Photo by Tamás Kovács/MTI
There were clear signs of his potential victory even before the final: in the 200-meter butterfly semifinal, Milák was almost nearly two and a half seconds faster than his entire competition. With a time of 1:52.96, he swam this year’s best in the world – his second strongest time ever in 2019.
In Wednesday’s finals, as expected, the 2012 Olympic champion gold medalist Chad Le Clos of South Africa, took the strongest start, but Milák matched his pace. As in the semifinals, Milák pulled away from the field at 150 meters, and around thirty meters from the goal it became clear that not even the American legend’s record could prove to be a true opponent.
Photo by Tamás Kovács/MTI
Milák has won the 30th Gold medal of Hungarian Swimming, and it was the first time he stood atop the podium among the adults. After Kristóf Rasovszky, winner of the 5 km open water race, and four times 200-meter mixed winner Katinka Hosszú, Kristóf Milák is the third Hungarian world champion in the Republic of Korea.
Featured photo by Tamás Kovács/MTI