Which 2016 Olympic event made Phelps the first swimmer to win the same individual event four times?

The 2016 Olympic event that made Michael Phelps the first swimmer to win the same individual event four times was the men’s 200-meter individual medley. He won the final in Rio de Janeiro on August 11, 2016, in 1:54.66.

Phelps had already won the event at the three preceding Olympics: Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, and London in 2012. His Rio victory made him the first swimmer to win four Olympic gold medals in one individual event. He defeated Japan’s Kosuke Hagino, who took silver, and China’s Wang Shun, who won bronze.

The 400-meter individual medley is an understandable mix-up because Phelps also dominated it and won Olympic gold in 2004, 2008, and 2012. However, he did not compete in that event at the 2016 Olympics. The 200-meter individual medley was Phelps’s 22nd Olympic gold medal and 26th Olympic medal overall.