Phelps Gets 6th Gold Medal

[Parche]

BEIJING - Michael Phelps collected the sixth gold medal and stuffed it in his warmup jacket. No time to even savor that one as he rushed off to swim again. It was just No. 6, after all, equaling his haul from Athens in 2004. The most important ones are still to come. Phelps made it 6-for-6 at the Beijing Games with another world-record triumph Friday, his bid to take down Mark Spitz and the grandest of Olympic records looking less suspenseful by the day.

ADVERTISEMENT


The American hung on the lane rope in a familiar pose after winning the 200-meter individual medley but showed little emotion other than raising his left arm when his time of 1 minute, 54.23 seconds flashed on the board — more than two seconds ahead of the next guy.

With that, he quickly moved on.

"The next two races are pretty important," said Phelps, whose sixth world record in China erased his own mark of 1:54.80 at last month's U.S. trials. "I have to conserve as much physical and emotional energy as I can."

He's already the winningest athlete in Olympic history with 12 golds — he also won two bronze medals in Athens — but his sights are on eight in Beijing.

Spitz won seven golds at the 1972 Munich Games. Phelps has two more events to remove any doubt he's the greatest Olympian ever.

Ryan Lochte tried to pull off a daunting double, going against Phelps just 29 minutes after winning the 200 backstroke. He couldn't keep up, though he did hold on for bronze. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary picked up his third silver of the games — all of them trailing Phelps.

"It's not a shame," Cseh said, "to be beaten by a better one."

When the official times were posted, Phelps extended his right hand to Lochte in the next lane. The friends shook hands and patted each other on the head.

Later, they yukked it up on the medal stand before Phelps hustled off to grab his racing gear; he had to come right back for the semifinals of the 100 butterfly.

"I switched from my dress sweats to my parka, shoes, threw my cap and goggles on and then they pushed us on out. No time," he said. "The medal was in my warmup jacket."

History can't wait.

A half-hour after winning another gold, Phelps was second-fastest behind Milorad Cavic of Serbia in the 100 fly, setting himself up to tie Spitz's record in Saturday's final. World record-holder Ian Crocker of the U.S. bounced back from a disappointing swim in the prelims to post the third-fastest time.

[Bake]

1. He's the REAL DEAL.

I had my doubts, thinking it's just media hype. But no. He's the real deal.

BTW, does "the winningest athlete in Olympic history" include both Summer and Winter Olympics?

Bake