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Michael Phelps earns his 19th gold medal

eam USA's swimming team are celebrating a double victory tonight after winning two gold medals. Michael Phelps takes home his 19th gold after winning the men's 4x100m freestyle relay. 

 The 31-year-old, 22-time Olympic medalist, swam the second leg of the relay for Team USA - despite not competing in any freestyle events at the U.S. trials or in the preliminaries in Rio.

He was cheered on by his girlfriend Nicole Johnson, who was sat with their son Boomer, and Phelps' mom Deborah.

Phelps has been a part of the relay team since 2004 and was keen to get revenge after losing to France in 2012.

Instead, France came in second while Australia was third.

The team more than made up for a debacle at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, where the US failed to even qualify for the final of the 4x100 free relay.

Phelps swam second for Team USA, taking over from Caeleb Dressel who was trailing behind France in second place. Phelps managed to overtake France with a split time of 47.12 while Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian, who has an even better split of 46.97, brought the victory home.
The gold is Phelps's 23rd Olympic medal which includes 19 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes.
The swimmer appeared at the Olympic pool with red marks all over his body - caused by 'cupping' therapy which has become popular among swimmers and other athletes in Rio.
'Cupping', is used to help blood flow in sore or problem areas for swimmers. Some techniques involve heated cups, which Phelps favors.  He even included footage of himself having the treatment in his new promotional called Rule Yourself.