King Midas Phelps’ Great Haul of China … Historic 8 For 8 - Relay Video Replaced But Could Get Pulled Soon As Well
History written: Phelps wins No. 8
BEIJING — A journey that started four years ago after his six gold medals in Athens and included 17 swims over nine days here ended triumphantly for Michael Phelps on Sunday.
Phelps earned his unprecedented eighth Olympic gold medal of the 2008 Olympics as he swam the butterfly leg of the Americans’ world-record win in the 4×100m medley relay to close out the swimming competition at the Water Cube.
Jason Lezak held off Eamon Sullivan of Australia in the freestyle leg, with the Americans finishing in 3:29.34. Australia took the silver in 3:30.04 and Japan the bronze.
Lezak said he was inspired by the celebrities on hand to watch history in the making.
“I looked up and I saw Kobe and LeBron, the best basketball players in the world. No way we were going to let those guys down,” he said.
Aaron Peirsol led off in the backstroke leg, Brendan Hansen swam the breast and Lezak anchored, the same three who won gold in Athens. Phelps swam the prelims of that race in Athens, giving up his finals spot to Ian Crocker. The American men have never lost the medley relay in the history of the Olympics.
“Hats off to this guy right here,” Peirsol said of Phelps in an NBC interview on the pool deck after the race. “He did something that’s never been done before. We’re happy to be a part of it.”
Hansen called Phelps’ 8-for-8 the greatest achievement in sports.
“Every single athlete in the world right now needs to tip their hat to Michael Phelps” he said.
Phelps tied Mark Spitz with his seventh gold medal a day earlier in the 100m butterfly, winning by the slimmest of margins, .01 of a second over Milorad Cavic.
His quest was almost derailed in Day 2 of the meet in the 4×100m free relay, but Lezak’s unbelievable anchor leg kept the quest alive. he touched ahead of Alain Bernard of France by .08.
Phelps set world records in seven of his eight swims, with only the 100m fly mark not broken. He also won the 400m IM, the 200m IM and the 200m fly, breaking his own world mark in each, and led off the 4×200m free relay.
It was nine days of magical moments for Phelps, and he said the collective effort is what he’ll remember most.
“Every race, from one to the other,” he said. “It’s the whole thing. It’s a great experience.”
Phelps wins 8th gold medal; breaks tie with Spitz
BEIJING - Cheering from the pool deck, Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games on Sunday to become the grandest of Olympic champions.
Jason Lezak held on to the lead Phelps gave him, anchoring the United States to a world record in the 400-meter medley relay against an Australian team that did its best to spoil history.
But Phelps, with a big hand from three teammates, would not be denied. He eclipsed Mark Spitz’s seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games, an iconic performance that was surpassed by a swimmer fitting of this generation: a 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves hip-hop music and texting with his buddies.
Even though the Americans have never lost the medley relay at the Olympics, the latest gold was hardly a breeze. When Phelps dove into the water for the butterfly—the third of four legs—the Americans were third behind Japan and Australia.
But Phelps, swimming the same distance and stroke that he used to win his seventh gold a day earlier, powered back to the front on his return lap, passing off to Lezak with the Americans in front.
Australia’s Eamon Sullivan tried to chase Lezak down and appeared to be gaining as they came to the wall. But Lezak touched in 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds—Phelps’ seventh world record in his personal Great Haul of China.
The Aussies took silver in 3:30.04, also under the old world record, while Japan held on for the bronze.
(AP)
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