Rio 2016: Michael Phelps 'fired up' from London 2012 defeat to beat Chad le Clos and regain 200m butterfly gold

Phelps admits the 200m butterfly holds a special place in his heart and after four years of waiting, he reclaimed gold from Le Clos with a superb performance in Rio

Michael Phelps celebrates his victory in the men's 200m butterfly (Getty)

Michael Phelps admitted that winning the 200m fly Olympic title was one of the most satisfying gold medals of his career after he reclaimed the gong from Chad le Clos in thrilling fashion at the Olympic Aquatic Centre here in Rio on Tuesday night.

Phelps, who now has 21 golds after he later won the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, revealed that not owning that particular title had eaten him up for four years since he relinquished it to the South African in London.

"I was fired up," said Phelps. "I really wanted it back. I don't care about the time, I was just happy to win. I have watched 2012 back and it hurt. What happened four years ago stuck with me. It was frustrating.”

Phelps admitted the 200m fly held a special place in his heart – it was his first Olympic race back in 2000 in Sydney when he was just 15 - and he was visibly emotional when he was receiving his medal. “I was just thinking,” he said, “going back over the last 16 years. That event was my bread and butter and that is the last time I will swim at a Games. There wasn’t a shot in hell I was losing that race tonight. And if I did I was leaving everything in the pool. I’m just thankful. I wanted that one back.”

After the race Phelps went to his family in the stands and kissed his mum and partner Nicole, a former Miss California, and kissed and held his baby boy, Boomer, who is just three months old.

“I wanted to hold Boo for longer,” Phelps said. “I FaceTime with him every night but it was good to see him awake. Usually he sleeps all the time.”

Of his relationship with Le Clos that had descended into trash talking about one another over the last year he admitted they hadn’t had much contact. “We’re competitors,” the American added. “I don’t want him to win and he doesn’t want me to win. We haven’t spoken to each other much out here. He is a good racer, he puts in a lot. The kid’s got talent.

“But I knew where he was for most of the race. I could see him perfectly. But the last 10m were not much fun [when he was nearly caught by the Japanese swimmer Masato Sakai]. I felt like I was standing still.”