Update - August 11, 2016 - 10:15 p.m. ET: Michael Phelps wins the 200-meter individual medley race (1:54.66) and beats out rival Ryan Lochte. That makes it 22 gold medals for Phelps throughout his Olympic career. Japan's Kosuke Hagino finished 2nd (1:56.61) and Wang Shun from China finished 3rd (1:57.05). Lochte finished 5th (1:57.47).

Michael Phelps returns to the Olympic stage Thursday night, facing longtime American rival Ryan Lochte for perhaps the final time in their much anticipated 200-meter individual medley (IM) gold medal showdown.

The two spirited competitors have history spanning back some 12 years, with Phelps winning three IM golds over that time and Lochte taking four straight world championships.

You can catch all the action on NBC beginning at 9 p.m. EST or you could also opt to view a live stream of the race by visiting Rio2016.com. Phelps is also scheduled to compete later in the evening in the semi finals for the 100M Butterfly.

200m individual medley:

(Heats) Wednesday Aug. 10, 1:09 p.m.

(Semifinals) Wednesday Aug. 10, 10:29 p.m.

(Finals) Thursday Aug. 11, 10:01 p.m.

100m butterfly:

(Heats) Thursday Aug. 11, 1:16 p.m.

(Semifinals) Thursday Aug. 11, 10:34 p.m.

(Finals) Friday Aug. 12, 9:12 p.m.

4x100m medley relay:

(Finals) Saturday Aug. 13, 10:04 p.m.

Phelps' Amazing Run

Phelps has been nothing short of amazing throughout his Olympic career and the Rio Games are no exception. He has already added several gold medals this year to bring his current career collection up to 25.

Lochte Rivalry

Chances are there won't be much of that on Thursday night - at least not until after their long-time battle comes to a close, if Phelps performs at the superstar level that he and his many fans the world over anticipate. However, the gold medal swimmer insists that the rumored rivalry between them is nothing more than friendly competition.

"Honestly, I think we've both just grown up," Phelps recently remarked, reflecting on his rivalry with Lochte. "I do feel like I talk to him more and joke around with him more than I really did in the past."

Phelps is on record with purported plans to retire and says he's fully committed to going out with a bang even more explosive than what he's shown himself capable of in previous games. According to a former coach, however, with Lochte going up against Phelps on Thursday the rumored rivalry is likely only to positively impact each of the two high-profile swimming stars repping Team USA.

"The competitive environment between those two guys has always been good," said Gregg Troy, who coached both swimmers at the 2012 Olympics. "Even at their own testament, they both say they bring out the best in each other."

Sponsoring Drama

In the midst of his dogged pursuit for history, the 31-year-old Phelps recently had to deal with added distraction of having to place a piece of tape over the logo of his Beats headphones due to sponsorship issues in connection with the Olympics.

This mini-drama is due to the fact that Olympic game officials have reportedly made it a point during this year's games of going after companies they suspect of engaging in what's known as "ambush marketing."