Olympic Competitor nr 1659
B. 1985-06-30, Baltimoe, MD, USA
Swimming (14 gold, 2 bronze)
| 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | HP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 m Free-style | bronze | gold | 8960 | |
| 100 m Butterfly | gold | gold | 12800 | |
| 200 m Butterfly | fifth | gold | gold | 20700 |
| 200 m Individual Medley | gold | gold | 12800 | |
| 400 m Individual Medley | gold | gold | 12800 | |
| 4x100 m Free-style Relay | bronze | gold | 2240 | |
| 4x200 m Free-style Relay | gold | gold | 3200 | |
| 4x100 m Medley Relay | (gold) | gold | 1664 | |
| 75164 |
After six golds in Athina, Phelps tried to break all records by going for
8 golds in Beijing.
In the second of those eight races, the 4x100 freestyle, he tried to break
the world record at the 100 freestyle (which he would not swim individually)
by swimming first. He missed the world record by one hundredth, but was preceded
by Eamon Sullivan of Australia, who did break the world record. Later in
the race, the Americans started the last leg a meter behind (now previous)
world-record holder Alain Bernard of France, but Jason Lezak swam the fastest
100m ever to help Phelps to his second gold and second world record.
On wednesday, he celebrated his "tenth" and "eleventh" gold medals, and the
whole world celebrated the new record holder, but I prefer not to count his
gold in the Athens medley relay (he only swam in the qualifications), so
in my opinion he merely equalled Ray Ewry's ten
golds (his 1906 medals are not usually counted). He did break the record
on thursday.
On saturday, his seventh gold came without a world record, and he had less
than a hundredth of a second of a lead over silver.
He could be credited with an extra world record, in the first leg of the
4 x 200 m free-style relay. His time of 1:43.31 was faster than his pre-Beijing
world record, but he had meanwhile bettered that record in the individual
200m.
Olympic Competitor nr 514
Olympic Competitor nr 1118
Written 2004-08-18 - last modified 2004-08-18
This page is part of the site "Full Olympians" by Herman De Wael. See here for a full Introduction.