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The Phelps Watch

Posted by Chris Forsberg, Boston.com Staff August 17, 2008 12:33 PM

08112008phelps600.jpg
Michael Phelps on the medal stand after winning gold in the 400 IM. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Michael Phelps won all eight potential gold medals he was seeking in Beijing, compiling a career Olympic-record total of 14 golds. Here's the rundown of the medals he won:

Mission accomplished . . .

  1. 400 individual medley. Easily picked up first gold with a world-record performance.

  2. 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Teammate Jason Lezak overcame France's Alain Bernard at the wall for a world-record victory.

  3. 200 freestyle. Ties career gold-medal record of nine, winning by more than a body length.

  4. 200 butterfly. He touched in 1 minute, 52.03 seconds, breaking his old mark of 1:52.09 set at last year's world championships in Australia. Gives him 10 golds for his career, putting him alone atop the career list.

  5. 4 x 200 freestyle relay. Beijing gold medal No. 5 (and career No. 11) came in easy fashion. With Phelps leading off, the American relay team of Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay won in a world record time of 6:58.56, more than four seconds better than the previous mark.

  6. 200 individual medley. Phelps dominated right from the start of the 200-meter individual medley and won in 1 minute, 54.23 seconds. He knocked off his own mark of 1:54.80 set at last month's U.S. trials, his sixth world record of the games.

  7. 100 butterfly. Phelps beat Milorad Cavic of Serbia in the 100-meter butterfly by a hundredth of a second, setting an Olympic record in 50.58 seconds but snapping his streak of setting world records in each of his previous six gold-medal performances. With the win, Phelps matched Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in one games.

  8. 4 x 100-meter medley relay. Phelps and his teammates shattered the world record in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay, enabling Phelps to expunge countryman Mark Spitz's 1972 record for most golds at one Games.

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18 comments so far...

  1. Excellence is about teamwork. Without "team" individual greatness would not be possible. Props to the American Swimming team for the great support they are giving Mr. Phelps in his legendary quest for swimming imortality.

    ~JC Angelcraft

    Posted by JC Angelcraft August 13, 08 12:09 PM

  1. Let's root for the other US Team mates: Crocker and Lochte to win an individual medal..Gold.... And have team medals added to Phelps cache to grasp the all time Gold Medal count. He is Great but ...let's share to wealth with others !

    LOT - Newburyport,MA

    Posted by Lewis Thompson August 14, 08 06:03 PM

  1. Let's root for the other US Team mates: Crocker and Lochte to win an individual medal..Gold.... And have team medals added to Phelps cache to grasp the all time Gold Medal count. He is Great but ...let's share to wealth with others !

    LOT - Newburyport,MA

    Posted by Lewis Thompson August 14, 08 09:59 PM

  1. Let's see Phelps get a gold in real sport.

    Posted by Iplayrealsports.com August 15, 08 12:03 PM

  1. he's the best.

    Posted by k. August 15, 08 12:04 PM

  1. I'm with you there LOT! Ian Crocker is a family friend and I would love to see him win Gold at the 100 meter butterfuly finals tonight, since he already holds the world record! Go Ian!

    Posted by JM August 15, 08 01:31 PM

  1. If Ryan or Ian can beat him in the pool fair and square then so be it. However, I would not begrudge the glory to an individual who is intent on pursuing immortality. Particularly because he has not exhibited anything akin to unsportsmanlike conduct as an individual or as part of a team. He was awarded a gold as part of the winning team. It should still be counted as a gold won and be part of his quest and nothing less. Bad mouthing and relegating this achievement to nothing, smacks of crab mentality which I thought does not exists among Americans...

    Posted by Spencer swansong August 15, 08 02:58 PM

  1. Why would Phelps ever want to share gold medals??? Shouldn't we be rooting for Phelps to win 8 and not to fail.

    Posted by Showtime August 15, 08 07:52 PM

  1. I think that if he can win them, then let him win! I don't think he should stoop down to the others' levels to make them happy.........let his teammates EARN their gold as he's doing right now!

    Posted by Kelly, Florida State University August 16, 08 01:08 AM

  1. If Ryan or Ian can beat him in the pool fair and square then so be it. However, I would not begrudge the glory to an individual who is intent on pursuing immortality. Particularly because he has not exhibited anything akin to unsportsmanlike conduct as an individual or as part of a team. He was awarded a gold as part of the winning team. It should still be counted as a gold won and be part of his quest and nothing less. Bad mouthing and relegating this achievement to nothing, smacks of crab mentality which I thought does not exists among Americans...

    Posted by Spencer swansong August 16, 08 03:01 AM

  1. Well , yeah, team is so important to individual. but to win the gold medal,every athlete should do his best and phelps did so. actually , I ever met many fans on
    www.naturistmeet.com ,they are affected by phelps's hard work and charm . so.. both the individual and team are important to every gold medal!

    Posted by jake August 16, 08 06:28 AM

  1. So...what would you have him do, slow down?

    Posted by Heather Poole August 16, 08 09:34 AM

  1. It is a major achievement to win one gold medal or break one world record, but to do what Michael is doing now and what he did in Athens is as Mark Spitz puts it just simply epic. To win one gold medal, break one world record takes a huge amount of work and preparation. To prepare for multiple races and to succeed over and over again within a single week once and then to do it again four years later seems superhuman and is inspiring. It shows what a single human can do when they really focus. It has inspired even his own teammate Jason Lezak to achieve an incredible come from behind victory only topped later by Michael himself. After this I hope he can take the time to enjoy the rest of the games. Americans of all kinds exist some can crab with the best. That's diversity!

    Posted by gazelle024 August 16, 08 02:48 PM

  1. Response to comment #4....obviously you've not very intelligent & have probably are a couch potato who could swim 25 meters if your life depended on it. As for your so called "real sports", Play Staion doesn't count...loser! Get a clue!

    Posted by smarterthanyou August 16, 08 06:45 PM

  1. Response to comment #4....obviously you have no idea what you're talking about nor have you ever swam even 100 meters in your life! As for your "real sports" ability, how many Olympic Gold Medals do you have? Alot I'm sure. Loser.

    Posted by Carl August 17, 08 12:23 AM

  1. As for the jacka** that said swimming is not a real sports i would love to see him or her get in a pool and even do 3 laps at full speed . You would be gasping for air and not know what just happened to your body, swimming is one of the toughest sports in the world.

    Posted by Marc August 17, 08 03:03 AM

  1. we have taken competitive sports in this country and made it politically correct to "share". like T-ball- everyone shares in the endless tie scores. if he puts the time in the pool or has fish genes-so what.if he watches and counts endless calories to make sure he keeps up his stamina and muscle strength-I celebrate that. he should get every minute of press for his commitment and dedication to his sport. If more athletes trained like him and every little boy celebrated his mom and sisters has he does-we would all be learning something. my 14 year old son is now a phelps fan and I hope he learned something watching

    Posted by terri August 17, 08 11:45 PM

  1. Pheeewww... The Boy is a Fish!!!

    Good Example of Nationalism Phelps, You make Olympians Proud.

    Posted by Lanny KIMBOWA August 26, 08 07:11 AM
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