World Championships Le Clos won four gold medals out of a possible four gold medals in his individual events at the 2014 World Short Course Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar in December, which included winning the 50-metre butterfly, 100-metre butterfly, 200-metre butterfly, and 200-metre freestyle. His winning time of 48.44 seconds in the 100-metre butterfly set a new world record and a new Championships record. 2015 Long Course World Championships Le Clos finished 14th in the semifinals of the 50 meter butterfly and 6th in the 200m freestyle. He finished second in the 200m butterfly, at 0.2 seconds behind László Cseh. He successfully defended his 2013 title in the 100m butterfly by winning the gold medal in a personal best time of 50.56. Le Clos and Michael Phelps, who was swimming at the US national championships at the same time and posted slightly faster times in the 100 and 200m butterfly events, exchanged comments about each other's times, which set up a rivalry for the 2016 Olympics. 2016 2016 Summer Olympics Le Clos won the silver medal in the 200 metre freestyle event, finishing behind China's Sun Yang in a time of 1:45.20 to become one of South Africa's most decorated Olympians. The medal itself was quite a surprise for many, as Le Clos, primarily known as a butterfly specialist, had to overcome placement in one of the outside lanes and the presence of far more established freestylers in the field, such as the world record holder Paul Biedermann, reigning world champion James Guy, and the eventual bronze medalist Conor Dwyer. Le Clos finished 4th in the 200 metre butterfly in which he was the defending champion, in a race he called the worst of his career, as he was second behind Phelps for much of the race before fading in the closing meters. The event was heavily hyped as a rematch between Le Clos and Michael Phelps, the 2004 and 2008 winner whom Le Clos had narrowly beaten in 2012. The relationship between Le Clos and Phelps had been cordial in 2012–2013, but it deteriorated in 2014 when Phelps came back from retirement. In the ready room before the preliminary race, Le Clos' shadow boxing while Phelps "glowered in a corner" spawned the Internet meme with the hashtag #PhelpsFace. Le Clos' Wikipedia biography was even vandalized repeatedly. Le Clos won a second silver medal in the 100 metre butterfly,