RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- A stunner at the Rio Olympics: Michael Phelps was beaten.
Rather handily at that.
The most decorated athlete in Olympic history couldn't pull off one of his patented comebacks in the 100-meter butterfly, easily held off by a swimmer a decade younger.
Twenty-one-year-old Joseph Schooling of Singapore got off to a blistering start, building a lead that not even Phelps could overcome.
After winning four gold medals at these games and looking unbeatable, Phelps finally ran out of steam in what was the final individual race of his career unless he decides to come out of retirement again.
The 31-year-old Phelps still has a chance to leave Rio with 23 golds in his career. But he'll have to do with some help from his teammates, swimming in the butterfly leg of the 400 medley relay on the final night of swimming Saturday.
Phelps wound up in a three-way tie for silver along with two longtime rivals, Chad le Clos of South Africa and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. They all touched in 51.14 -- a half-body length behind Schooling's winning time of 50.39.
"A three-way tie is pretty wild," Phelps said. "Joe is tough. Hats off to him, he swam a great race. It's kind of special and a decent way to finish my last individual race."
Phelps quickly swam over to congratulate Schooling, who seemed stunned by what he had done.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet," Schooling said. "I'm sorry if I don't seem like I'm full of emotions right now. I don't know what to believe, like, whether I actually did it or I'm still preparing for my race."
Phelps, he added, is "a guy that will go down in our history books as the greatest of all time of any sport. I'm just honored and glad to have that moment and that privilege to race alongside Michael and Chad and all those guys."
