Which 2012 Olympic event did Phelps win in 1:54.27?

Michael Phelps won the 2012 Olympic men’s 200-metre individual medley in 1:54.27. He held off fellow American Ryan Lochte, who took silver in 1:54.90, while Hungary’s László Cseh finished third in 1:56.22.

The victory had historic significance. Phelps became the first male swimmer to win the same individual Olympic event at three consecutive Games, following his victories in the 200-metre individual medley at Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004. He controlled much of the race and resisted Lochte’s challenge during the closing freestyle leg.

The win was also Phelps’s 20th Olympic medal and his 16th gold medal at the time. It helped him pass Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the athlete with the most Olympic medals, a record he later extended considerably.

The event is easy to confuse with Phelps’s other London victories. He won the 100-metre butterfly in 51.21 and the 200-metre butterfly silver, but the 1:54.27 time belongs specifically to the 200-metre individual medley.