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Cape Town - Chad le Clos’ father, Bert, has congratulated the three swimmers who beat his son to the medals on offer in the 200m butterfly final in Rio de Janeiro earlier this week.
Chad le Clos was the defending champion in the event, but missed out on a medal on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning SA time).
American Michael Phelps won gold in a time of 1:53:36. Phelps held off surprise silver medallist, Japan's Masato Sakai, by 0.04.
Hungary’s Tamás Kenderesi took bronze in 1:53:62, with Le Clos finishing fourth in 1:54:06.
Chad was criticised on social media for snubbing South African journalists for interviews immediately after the race.
However, despite the disappointment, Bert was quick to congratulate his son’s conquerors and wrote the following on his Twitter page on Wednesday:
Congratulations to Michael, Masato and Tamas, and everyone else in that historic final
— Bert Le Clos (@bigbertleclos) August 10, 2016
Bert also told Sport24 after the race on Tuesday: "The Le Clos' only cry when we win. We don't cry when we lose and that's the bottom line. There are no excuses.
"He went 1.52 (1.52.96) in London and 1.54 (1.54.06) here. No excuses. It is what it is."
Le Clos will return to the pool on Thursday for the heats of the 100m butterfly (19:28 SA time).
