Michael Phelps Wins Eighth Gold Medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics

Michael Phelps made Olympic history. He won his eighth gold medal in one Olympics at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. This was made possible on August 16, 2008, which is actually August 17th in Beijing, when Michael Phelps and his USA teammates won first place in the 4 x 100 medley relay final.

At first, there was competition. Japan at one point was taking the lead. The Australian team in the second leg was very strong, and they continued this into the third leg. However, this is where Michael Phelps stepped in. He was in the third leg and was able to pull the US back into the lead. This gave Jason Lezak a head start for accomplishing his task of getting Michael Phelps his eighth gold medal.

Prior to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Mark Spitz held the record of seven gold medals in one Olympics. He held this record with swimming as well. Up until now, no one might have believed that Mark Spitz' record could ever be broken.

During the eight events that Michael Phelps participated in in this 2008 Olympics, there were a few times when Michael Phelps was very close and could have not won a gold medal. For example, on August 15th (August 16th in China), he only won by one one hundredth of a second in the 100 meter butterfly swimming event. Usually, when a swimmer takes an extra stroke, it can slow them down. But Phelps' win came because he took an extra half a stroke which glided his hand to the finish line right before Milorad Cavic.

Michael Phelps now has fourteen Olympics Gold medals under his belt, the most of any Olympian in history. What an athlete! No doubt, we will continue to watch him in the years to come as a record breaker, an inspirational athlete, and a great American and human being.