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Graphics shows US swimmer Michael Phelps cemented his place in Olympics history Sunday, capping a sensational week by becoming the first athlete ever to win eight gold medals in one games. [Zhou Yongmin/Xinhua]
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With eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps has ascended to the top of the world.
"This is a dream come true for me," the swimmer said. He not only accomplished his goal of breaking the seven-gold mark of his countryman Mark Spitz in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, but also went well beyond that.
"I want to be the first Michael Phelps, not the second Mark Spitz," he said.
"Being able to have something like that to shoot for made those days when you were tired and didn't want to be there, when you just wanted to go home and sleep, not work out," he added.
In Beijing, Phelps swam 17 races, totaling an unmatched length of 3,200 meters in the water. He swept the golds in his pet events, overpowered competitors in his weak races and still managed to win when his goggle malfunctioned.
"I went from hitting my head on the wall to win by one hundredth of a second to doing my best time in every event. It's been nothing but an upwards roller coaster. It's been nothing but fun," he said.
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Michael Phelps of the United States gestures after his team winning the men's 4x100m medley relay final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 17, 2008. Phelps won his eighth gold medal at the Beijing Olympics swimming events on Sunday, breaking Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals won at a single Games in 1972. [Qi Heng/Xinhua]
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Phelps now has 14 Olympic gold medals around his neck, making him the greatest Olympian of all time. At the award ceremony for the 4X100 medley relay, Phelps was given a special certificate by swimming governing body FINA to acknowledge his achievements.
The golds were hard work paying off, Phelps said. "My coach Bob always said to me that it was like putting money in the bank. I guess I put a lot of money in the bank for the last four years, and we withdrew pretty much every penny of it."
With stunning races in the Beijing's Water Cube, Phelps has turned the competition into a one-man show. Many superlatives were piled on the 23-year-old American. Online, he was called the Poseidon, the half-man half-fish, and the extra-terrestrial. Netizens attempted to decipher his success by analyzing the picture of his body, digging out what he eats and even what music he listens to.
Phelps has conquered almost everyone, his teammates, competitors, coaches, swimming officials and of course the spectators.
Australian swim coach Alan Thompson said the presence of Phelps "made a field of great swimmers look ordinary." His teammate Aaron Peirsol said it might be once in a century you see something like Phelps races. "He's not just winning, he's absolutely destroying everything. It's awesome to watch," Peirsol said.
His rival Park Tae-hwan said it was both an honour and a tragic thing to compete with Phelps, because he could only swim for the second. Three-time Olympian Australian Grant Hackett said there are no words to describe Phelps' level of achievement. "In my opinion we'll never ever see it again, it will never be emulated," Hackett said on Sunday.