ATHENS, Greece -- American Michael Phelps won his fourth
gold medal of the Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley
Thursday night, leading the entire race.
Phelps finished in an Olympic-record time of 1 minute, 57.14
seconds, lowering his own mark of 1:58.52 set in the semifinals one
night earlier.
Ryan Lochte of Daytona Beach, Fla., earned silver in 1:58.78.
George Bovell of Trinidad took bronze in 1:58.80.
Phelps, the world record-holder and current world champion,
earned his third individual gold medal in Athens. Mark Spitz is the
only other swimmer to win more than two in a single Olympics. Spitz
won four -- and Phelps still has one individual event remaining, the
100-meter butterfly on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Baltimore was unsuccessful in his bid to
break Spitz's record of seven golds in the 1972 Munich Games, but
still could end up with eight medals.
He also has two bronze medals, giving him the largest personal
haul so far of any athlete in Athens. His other golds were in the
200 butterfly, 400 individual medley and 800 freestyle relay.
Russian gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin is the only person to win
eight medals at a single Olympics, earning three gold, four silver
and one bronze in the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games. Eight athletes
have won seven, including Spitz and U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi in
1988.
Just 30 minutes after
winning the medley, he dove back in the pool and set an Olympic
record in the 100 butterfly semifinals, setting up a showdown with
teammate Ian Crocker in the final.
"Tonight was the toughest turnaround time I've ever had," said
Phelps, who between races warmed down for 10 minutes, received his
gold medal, then went straight to the ready room to prepare for the
fly.
Phelps also is expected to swim the 400 medley relay, an event
the United States has never lost at the Olympics.