The American swimmer Michael Phelps became the sporting immortality last night to win its eighth gold medal in one Olympic tournament, with his team's victory in the test of a combined 100 meters relay at the Games in Beijing.
Phelps, 23, broke the record of his compatriot Mark Spitz, who had won seven gold medals in Munich 1972 and broke seven world records in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The record Spitz had been kept for 36 years, but waiting for someone to improve the mark Phelps could take another century.
Its eighth gold medal was in the last event of the swimming program, the 100 meter relay in combination, in which the powerful U.S. team set a world record of 3 minutes and 29.34 seconds.
Australia won the silver medal and Japan the bronze. Check the complete medal standings.
Now Phelps accumulates 14 gold in his career, including six in Athens and make it the largest Olympic athlete of the modern era.
Other winners. The Tunisian Oussama Mellouli won the 1,500 meter free with a time of 14:40:84, and left the Australian Grant Hackett (14:41:53), which finished second, without its third consecutive title in the discipline.
The bronze medal was the was the Canadian Ryan Cochrane, who made a mark of 14:42:69.
In the first hour German Britta Steffen, who had already proclaimed champion of Olympic 100 meters free, achieved the double of speed to win the gold again in the final of the 50 meter free.
With a time of 24:06, a new Olympic record, Steffen was imposed on the American Dara Torres (24:07) and the Australian Cate Campbell (24:17), to conduct the third double of speed since the advent of 50 meter free at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Torres, aged 41, joined with its eleventh silver Olympic medal, while for the younger Campbell, only 16 years old, is his first metal in some games.
The Australian Libby Trickett, and plusmarquista current world champion (23:97), finished in fourth place (24.25).
Finally, Australia was proclaimed champion of women's 4x100 relay beating the world record in a time of 3:52.69, while the silver went to the United States and the bronze for China.
