Phelps enters gold record books

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Phelps collected his fourth gold in Beijing in the 200 metres butterfly and made it five out of five just under an hour later in the 4x200m freestyle relay - both in world record times.

"I'm almost at a loss for words," said Phelps, who remains on course to surpass Spitz's achievement of seven golds in one Games. "To be the most decorated Olympian of all time, it just sounds weird. I am speechless."

Added to his six golds from Athens four years ago, the two victories saw Phelps surpass the nine golds won by Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina to cement his place in Olympic history.

"It started to sink in a little after the butterfly," Phelps added. "I was trying to focus on my next race but I kept thinking 'Wow. Greatest Olympian of all time.' It's a pretty neat title and I'm definitely honoured.

"When you have an Olympic gold medal it stays with you forever. It never gets old listening to your national anthem with a gold medal around your neck."

Phelps, 23, led from the halfway point in the butterfly but was made to battle hard to win in a world record time of 1:52.03 seconds, beating his own previous best by 0.06s ahead of Hungary's Laszlo Cseh and Japan's Takeshi Matsuda.

"I couldn't see anything for the last 100m, my goggles pretty much filled up with water," said Phelps, who remains on target to surpass Spitz's achievement of seven golds in one Games.

"It just kept getting worse and worse through the race and I was having trouble seeing the walls to be honest. But it's fine. I wanted to break the record and wanted to go 1:51 or better but in the circumstances I guess it's not too bad."

As expected, Phelps then led off a dominant American quartet in the 4x200m relay, swimming the first leg more than two seconds under world record schedule. His team-mates Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay carried on where he left off and eventually clocked a new world record time of 6:58.56, the first time the seven-minute barrier has been broken and almost five seconds quicker than their previous best.