Michael Phelps, who continues to prove why he is the most decorated Olympian to ever grace the games, has claimed his Olympic record 17th gold medal on Friday in the 100M butterfly, his final individual race of the 2012 London Games.
Phelps' time of 51.21 was about two seconds slower than his own WR time of 49.82 set back in 2009, though his margin of victory was .23 seconds over silver medalists Chad le Clos of South Africa and Russia's Evengy Korotyshkin, who both finished in 51.44 seconds.
Compared to his other victories in 100M butterfly in the Olympics, this was by far his most dominant. Phelps margin of victory was just .01 seconds in 2008 in Beijing, and .04 in the 2004 Athens games.
With another gold in the ir pocket thanks to Phelps, the United States is that much more in front of China in the total medal count. You can check out SI's complete medal tracker here.
Stick with this StoryStream for more coverage of local athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games. For more on the 2012 Olympic Games, make sure that you check out SB Nation's dedicated Olympics hub.