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Culture > Entertainment

Michael Phelps’ Finger Wag is the Most Savage Thing We’ve Seen at the Olympics

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Olivia Singh

If there’s one word that can be used to sum up the Olympics, it’s intense. Since the games kicked off, we have seen athletes compete at impressive levels, all hoping to snag gold medals for their respective countries. Although the competition is undoubtedly fierce this year, the best rivalry has to be between swimmers Michael Phelps and Chad le Clos. 

The rivalry between the two athletes began at the 2012 London Olympics, when le Clos took home the gold medal for the 200-meter butterfly competition. The loss was significant for Phelps, who was the defending champion and record holder for the event. Oh, and let’s not forget that le Clos reached the finish line just 0.05 seconds before Phelps. Since the major upset in London, Phelps has been looking to take back his title—and it happened last night. 

Prior to the 200-meter butterfly, footage of Phelps and le Clos in the waiting room on Monday night went viral, and with good reason. While le Clos was doing his best to get psyched (and probably get inside his competitor’s head), Phelps was simply not having it.

We think Phelps’ reaction might even be better than McKayla Maroney’s “not impressed” face that went viral at the 2012 Olympics. 

Anyway, Phelps was clearly in the zone before the 200-meter butterfly competition, ready to defeat le Clos and reclaim his rightful title. In the end, Phelps was victorious, coming in first place, while le Clos landed in fourth place. Perhaps he would have received a medal if he wasn’t constantly glancing over at Phelps while swimming.  


After defeating le Clos, Phelps put up both index fingers, giving everyone the sassiest finger wag, like, ever.

Considering that this was a huge, well-deserved win for Phelps, we think that his response was appropriate. Keep on wagging that finger, Phelps.  

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Olivia Singh is currently a senior at Hunter College in New York City, majoring in Media Studies. Her concentration is Journalism and she is a Pop Culture Blogger for HerCampus.com. Music, movies, television, and pop culture in general are her areas of expertise. She’s that one friend who knows just about every detail of the latest news story in the entertainment world. Close friends rave about her storytelling skills, so she can only hope that other people will enjoy her writing as much as she enjoys telling a good story. When she isn't scrolling through her plethora of social media sites, she can be found cuddling with her cat, playing the piano, obsessing over boybands, or eating a cupcake.