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EVEN if he doesnCOt manage the superhuman task of winning eight golds in Beijing, Michael Phelps has already swam himself into the record books.The sensational swimmer yesterday took his gold medal tally in the Chinese capital to three by winning the 200m freestyle. And in doing so, the American became only the fifth competitor in history to win nine golds in total, joining an impressive list of Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Larysa Latynina and Mark Spitz, the man whose record he is trying to beat.And Phelps said he was overjoyed to join that pantheon of greats. C[pounds sterling]To be tied for the most Olympic golds of all time, with those names in Olympic history, it is a pretty amazing,C[yen] he said. Phelps won six gold medals in Athens four years ago and has already won gold in the 400m individual medley and 4x100m freestyle relay this time round.
Yesterday Phelps set off at a rapid pace and with just 50m to go led by a body length. By the finish line he was already turning around to check his time as South Korean Park Tae-Hwan touched for silver in 1:44.85 - an Asian record that was nevertheless 1.89sec adrift. American Peter Vanderkaay was third in 1:45.14.C[pounds sterling]I just wanted to be out on my own, which I had done by the 100 metres mark - that was my goal,C[yen] Phelps said. C[pounds sterling]I was out in open water, and I was in the outside lane, which makes it difficult for the other guys to see me.C[yen]Phelps said he was wary coming home of fast-finishing Park, but the South Korean said there was simply nothing he could do.C[pounds sterling]Phelps swam so fast,C[yen] Park said. C[pounds sterling]ItCOs my honour to compete with him.C[yen]
On top of entering the record books, yesterdayCOs win meant that Phelps had also banished the memory of his third place in the same event four years ago. In Athens the 23-year-old had to be content with bronze behind Ian Thorpe and Peter van den Hoogenband in what was billed as the race of the century. Having got the gold this time round, and with it the world record, Phelps could lay that ghost to rest. And he admitted it had motivated him to greater feats. C[pounds sterling]I hate to lose,C[yen] Phelps went on. C[pounds sterling]And getting third in the 200 free four years ago...You know, when I do lose in a race like that and in circumstances like that, it motivates me even more to try and swim faster.C[yen]Phelps repeated his mantra of taking each race one at a time but was unable to pinpoint just exactly who might thwart his bid for a straight eight.Fighting his draining schedule with a huge diet of pasta and pizza, the Baltimore phenomenon suggested, worryingly for his rivals, that conquering sleep was almost as big a challenge as anything he faced in the pool. C[pounds sterling]ICOve been sleeping as much as I can,C[yen] he said. C[pounds sterling]Just about every morning I have woken up at about 4.30 or 5 oCOclock. It takes me a while to fall back to sleep and when I do I get an extra half an hour.
C[pounds sterling]It takes me a while to get up in the morning. But itCOs the Olympics, so you have to.C[yen]Elsewhere, PhelpsCO countrymen continued to dominate at BeijingCOs Water Cube.Aaron Peirsol lowered his own world record in winning the menCOs 100m backstroke, setting a new mark of 52.54sec, while Natalie Coughlin defended her womenCOs 100m backstroke crown.
Australian Liesel Jones was one of the few to break the US stranglehold when she won the womenCOs 100m breaststroke title.
A[umlaut] 2007 Al Sidra Media LLC
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