American Michael Phelps has become the all-time gold medal winner in any sport at a single Olympics. He collected a record eighth gold medal in the final event of the Beijing Olympics indoor swimming schedule. VOA's Jm Stevenson has more from the Water Cube in the Chinese capital.
To many, the quest of winning eight gold medals at a single games seemed impossible. To Phelps, it was very attainable.
"I have dreamed of a lot of things. And I have written down a lot of goals. And this was the biggest one I really ever wrote down. And everything was accomplished. It has been a fun last four years. And it has been one fun week. That is for sure," he said.
Phelps and teammates Aaron Piersol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak won the 4X100 meter medley relay with a world record time of 3:29.34 minutes. The quartet hugged with joy at the end of the race, and that emotion and camaraderie is what meant the most to Phelps.
"Getting to know everybody on the team is one of the greatest memories. Just being able to be a part of Team USA and be a part of the U.S. Olympic swimming team," added Phelps. "That is one of the greatest memories I will have from this."
Phelps has 16 career medals, second only to former Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina (18). His 14 career gold medals is an all-time record. During the 1980 Moscow games, Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin won eight overall medals. But no one until Michael Phelps had won that many gold in one Olympics.
