‘Angry Michael Phelps’ is the finest meme of the Olympics so far
Michael Phelps continued his quest to add to his already historic medal count on Monday night as he competed in the 200m butterfly semifinals, and cameras captured the legend giving a very intense mean mug to South African swimmer Chad le Clos.
The hoodie headphones and death stare combination captured the internet’s imagination, as McKayla Maroney and Ashley Wagner had before, lighting up Twitter with memes.
Phelps psych up strategy worked as he did finish ahead of le Clos, to grab second place in the heat and a spot in Tuesday’s final. The event was won by the South African in 2012 with Phelps earning the silver.
Image macro was one of the relatively few honors Phelps did not have in his award case heading into the Olympics, so even if he gets shut out going forward, Rio will still have been a success.