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AQUAMAN ROLLS A SEVEN
PHELPS TIES SPITZ BY WHISKER
By BRIAN COSTELLO Post Correspondent
YEAH, BABY! Michael Phelps celebrates his seventh gold medal after winning the 100-meter butterfly by a hundredth of a second.
PHOTOS: Phelps Wins 7th Gold
Last updated: 6:40 am
August 16, 2008
Posted: 4:10 am
August 16, 2008
BEIJING - One hundredth of a second.
It's about the time it takes you to blink.
It's the margin by which
Michael Phelps kept his quest for eight Olympic gold medals alive last night with a stunning 100-meter butterfly victory that came by a fingertip.
PHOTO GALLERY: Phelps Wins 7th Gold
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Pick your adjective: Amazing. Astounding. Unbelievable. Unbeatable.
All apply.
History is now the only thing left for Phelps to topple. If he and his teammates take the gold in the 4x100-meter medley relay tonight, he'll have a record eight gold medals, surpassing fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's feat at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
"When someone says you can't do something, it just shows you anything is possible," Phelps said after the race. "When you put your mind to something and you really focus on doing it, anything is possible."
Phelps has beaten most of his opponents with yards to spare. Last night he didn't have an inch.
He fell behind in the first 50 meters with Serbia's Milorad Cavic taking the lead. Phelps was in seventh place when the swimmers made the turn, nearly a second behind Cavic.
But Phelps began making up ground like a shark closing on prey.
As Cavic stretched out to touch the wall, Phelps' arms were still in mid-stroke, but somehow, someway he got his hand to the wall before Cavic. His time was an Olympic-record 50.58. Cavic's time was 50.59. Serbia protested the results, but the judges stood firm.
"I had no idea the race was that close," Phelps said.
"[Cavic] said it would be good for me if I lost," Phelps said. "When he said that, I was fired up. I said, 'I'm going to go for it.' And when I saw that finish I said, 'Wow.' "
Even coach Bob Bowman and mom Debbie Phelps believed Michael had lost, with Bowman stating "he got him" and Michael's mom holding up two fingers.
Judges needed to look at video and electronic records to determine Phelps was the winner. Cavic said he didn't want a protest.
"I'm stoked with this," Cavic told reporters. "I don't want to fight this."
From Detroit, Spitz called Phelps "the greatest."
"One word: epic," Spitz told The Associated Press from Detroit. "It goes to show you that not only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time. He's the greatest racer who ever walked the planet."
Last night's victory tied the 23-year-old from Baltimore with Spitz for the most gold medals won by an individual Olympian.
Phelps now has 13 career gold medals, four more than any Olympian in his history.
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Not going to say it. Not going to say it. Not saying anything other than Wow.
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