Olympics: Phelps joins Olympic greats with 9th career gold

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

BEIJING - Michael Phelps joined Olympic icons Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina as the only athletes to win nine summer Games gold medals with a dominant 200m freestyle triumph Tuesday.

The US superstar, vying to break swimmer Spitz's record of seven golds at a single Olympics, captured his third title and third world record in as many events in Beijing as he sliced nine-tenths of a second off his own world record with a time of 1min 42.96sec.

It was another masterful performance from the 23-year-old American, who increased his lead on every lap.

He was ahead by a body length in the final 50m, and was turning around to check his time as South Korean Park Tae-Hwan touched for silver in 1:44.85. American Peter Vanderkaay was third in 1:45.14.

"I just wanted to be out on my own, which I had done by the 100 metres mark - that was my goal," Phelps said. "I was out in open water, and I was in the outside lane, which makes it difficult for the other guys to see me."

Phelps said he was wary coming home of fast-finishing Park, but the South Korean said there was simply nothing he could do in the face of Phelps's mastery.

"Phelps swam so fast," Park said. "It's my honour to compete with him."

Phelps improved on the 200m free bronze that he won in Athens behind Australian great Ian Thorpe and Dutch star Pieter van den Hoogenband.

In the four years since, Phelps had seized the world record and the world title in the event.

With the gruelling 400m individual medley safely won in world record time, and a thrilling US triumph over France in the 4x100m free relay, Phelps has said the hardest part of his eight-gold quest is behind him.

He was back on the blocks later Tuesday morning in the semi-finals of the 200m butterfly, another event in which he holds the world record, and set a new Olympic record in booking his place in the final.

In other finals, US backstrokers Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol defended the 100m titles they won in Athens.

Coughlin, who had surrendered the world record to Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry in the semi-finals, clocked 58.96 to hold of Coventry, who took silver in 59.19. American Margaret Hoelzer was third in 59.34.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," Coughlin said. "When I saw the clock, I thought I had made a mistake and I only knew I had won when I saw the number one by my name."

Coventry claimed her second silver medal of the games, after her runner-up finish in the 400m medley.

Hoelzer was delighted to come up ahead in a tight battle for bronze.

"It was a close race. The third, fourth and fifth were less than a tenth of a second apart," she said.

Peirsol, bidding to repeat his backstroke double from Athens, won the 100m back in a world record 52.54sec.

Peirsol lowered his own record of 52.89 set at the US trials in Omaha, on July 1.

"I was a little bit surprised, a little bit relieved," Peirsol said. "It's not every day you feel that way - you never get used to it."

American Matt Grevers was second while Russian Arkady Vyatchanin and Hayden Stoeckel of Australia finished in a dead heat for bronze.

Australian world record-holder Leisel Jones stopped the US gold rush with a victory in the women's 100m breaststroke.

The 22-year-old, who settled for silver and bronze in the individual breaststroke events in 2004 after going in as favourite, clocked 1:05.17 to claim the gold that eluded her in Athens, with American Rebecca Soni taking silver in 1:06.73.

"I couldn't care less about the time," Jones said. "An Olympic gold is an Olympic gold, the time, the race, none of it matters - it's all about the gold."