TOKYO: Hungarian world record holder Kristof Milak powered to the Olympic men's 200m butterfly gold medal on Wednesday, touching more than two seconds clear of his nearest rival.
The 21-year-old, who smashed Michael Phelps's world record in 2019, hit the wall in a new Olympic record time of 1min 51.25sec ahead of Japan's Tomoru Honda (1:53.73) and Italy's Federico Burdisso (1:54.45).
Milak came into the race with a personal best nearly two seconds ahead of anyone else, and winning gold appeared to be a mere formality.
He was always in charge, turning at the halfway mark with a comfortable lead and accelerating to the wall with a devastating turn of speed.
London 2012 champion Chad le Clos of South Africa finished fifth in what is likely to be his last Olympics.
Hungary's Tamas Kenderesi was fourth, narrowly missing out on a repeat of his bronze medal performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. -- AFP