RIO DE JANEIRO _ On a golden night, Katie Ledecky talked about how much she enjoys swimming on the same team as Michael Phelps.
"It's just a great honor to be on a team with him," Ledecky said. "That's crazy what he pulled off tonight."
It was crazy. Phelps triumphed in a dramatic 200-meter butterfly battle for his 20th Olympic gold medal and then cruised as the anchor leg to a convincing victory in the 4x200 freestyle relay for his 21st gold.
"I can't tell you what a great leader he's been," Ledecky said. "Michael is someone who leads by example." Earlier in the night, Ledecky defeated Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom to win gold in the 200 freestyle.
Phelps' victory in the butterfly will help him chase away memories of one of his few Olympic disappointments. At the 2012 London Games, Phelps took a look lead into the final stretch, only to be passed by rival Chad Le Clos of South Africa.
On Tuesday, Phelps again seized the lead but this time he kept it, winning in 1:53.56, which was far removed from his world record of 1:51.51 set in 2009. Japan's Masato Sakai finished second at 1:53.40.
A little over an hour after his butterfly victory, Phelps swam the final leg of the U.S. gold-medal-winning 800 freestyle relay. He combined with Conor Dwyer, Townley Haas and Ryan Lochte to swim 7:00.66, which easily defeated Great Britain's 7:03.13.
Phelps thoroughly enjoyed his victories. After the butterfly, he commanded the adoring crowd to cheer louder. Then he flexed him muscles.
After the relay win, he hugged and kissed his son, Boomer.
Ledecky and Phelps were in the ready room together before their races. As Ledecky stood to depart, Phelps offered his best wishes.
"Good luck," he said.
Ledecky laughed as she thought back to the moment.
"It's just always fun to race on the same day as him," she said.
