Michael Phelps completed his record-breaking haul of eight gold medals at one Games on Sunday, beating fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz’s seven from Munich in 1972.

This one was never in much doubt — in stark contrast to the ‘fingernail’ win in yesterday’s butterfly — as he and his American team won the 4 x 100 metres medley relay comfortably. It took his overall tally to 14 from two Games.

He was already the athlete with most Olympic gold medals; now he has overtaken Spitz’s record too.

Not everyone may regard him as the greatest Olympian ever, but this was surely the greatest single feat at one Games.

What do you think?

How exactly did Michael Phelps manage to win that race this morning?

What is the plunge for distance competition?

And how could we make archery a bit more exciting?

I’m joined by Julian Linden and Ossian Shine on our latest podcast from Beijing. Seven minutes is all it takes. Go on … you know you want to.

Michael Phelps joined Mark Spitz at the highest peak of Olympic achievement on Saturday when his final, desperate lunge for the board brought him victory in the 100m butterfly by the thinnest possible margin and gave him his seventh gold medal at these Games — after an official protest from Serbia was rejected.

Milorad Cavic of Serbia appeared to have the gold tied up until Phelps’s perfect timing saw him home by one hundredth of a second. That is as precise as the timekeeping goes but if anything it looked less than that and shortly after the race Serbia protested the result.

That was rejected a few minutes later, confirming the seventh gold for Phelps.

 ”I actually thought when I did take that half stroke I thought I had lost the race right there, but I guess that was the difference in the end,” Phelps told reporters after the race but before the protest was launched.

“The last two Olympics I have been able to nail my finishes, I’m happy and at a loss for words but excited.”

Spitz is the only other man to have achieved the feat of seven golds at a single Games, back in Munich in 1972. Phelps will go clear of him on Sunday if, as expected, he joins his American team mates in winning the 4×100 medley relay.

NOTE: This post was updated following the Serbia protest and again after it was rejected. I also reworded it to make it clear it was the Serbia team who protested.

PHOTO: Michael Phelps of the U.S. celebrates after winning the men’s 100m butterfly swimming final at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 16, 2008. REUTERS/David Gray

Michael Phelps made it six golds in six races to edge closer to the record of Mark Spitz, while the three fastest men in the world whetted the appetites of 90,000 fans at the Bird’s Nest as swimming and athletics vied for attention on Friday.

Phelps was untroubled in the men’s 200 metres individual medley, moving to within one win of Spitz’s record from the 1972 Games.

Can anything stop Phelps? Well, yes, it is possible. American team mate Ian Crocker holds the world record and is up against him in the 100m fly on Saturday morning.

Can anything stop Usain Bolt in the men’s 100m on the track? That looks more doubtful. Bolt appeared to have plenty in hand as he won his second heat in 9.92 seconds and it will be a major surprise if anyone can catch him on Saturday.

The two rounds of the 100m heats were arguably the highlight of the first day of action at the Bird’s Nest, where the first track gold went to Tirunesh Dibaba in the 10,000 following her terrific burst over the last 300 metres.

At the tennis, Roger Federer showed there is life in the old dog yet as he recovered from his defeat by James Blake in the singles to partner Stanislas Wawrinka to victory over the Bryan brothers in the doubles.

Of course, the gold medal everyone wants is in the singles and it looks increasingly likely to go to Rafa Nadal following his win over Novak Djokovic. Nadal will play Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez for the title after his win over Blake in a heated semi-final.

For pic of the day, look below. Story of the day was probably American swimmer Rebecca Soni smashing the world record to win the 200 metres breaststroke two years after having heart surgery. My colleague Keith Weir chose the following as quote of the day:

“I told her I won! And she said,’Fat girl, you did!’ … This wasn’t just my dream, it was hers, so we were just so excited.”

That was China’s Tong Wen disclosing what her coach said to her after her victory in the women’s +78 kg judo final.

For joke of the day, listen to the end of our podcast. From six appeal to sax appeal … the old ones are the best…

Photo by David Gray /Reuters

If anyone at this Games could be forgiven for being a little bit conceited, a touch arrogant or slightly dismissive of his opponents then it surely would be Michael Phelps. Six races, six gold medals, six world records — it must be hard to keep your feet on the ground.

The reality is that having watched Phelps close-up this week, both poolside and in the press conference room, there isn’t the slightest whiff of arrogance about him. Even when provoked, by a reporter’s question about doping for example, he remains calm and respectful giving a sensible answer.

More importantly he remains respectful to his fellow athletes, in his own, rather reserved way.

I asked Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, who has finished behind Phelps on three occasions in these Games, what Phelps had said to him after the race and he smiled, “He just said ‘good race’.”

The 12-time gold medallist has celebrated his triumphs in a restrained manner — no whooping, no tears, no dancing poolside — just that one, genuine, roar of delight after the thrilling 4×100 relay win.

Asked about becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time, Phelps said that sounded “pretty neat”. That was refreshing because it managed to avoid sounding arrogant or falsely modest.

Phelps’s demeanour does reflect a culture of swimming that tends to discourage excessive bravado. The competitors spend a lot of time in training camps together and compete against each other in the annual world championships and the familiarity breeds respect.

Likewise they know that each one of them has to go through the same gruelling and often monotonous routine of training, watching your diet and living in a disciplined lifestyle.

Not many people live that way and so there is a mutual understanding. Also, as several podium finishers have pointed out this week, in a sport where a fraction of a second is all that separates a gold medal from a silver, it is very easy to be toppled and only a fool would look down on their competitors because they could very easily be the one being pipped next time.

Having dominated as much as he has, though, Phelps could have broken the mould and been forgiven. He could have chosen to behave like a swimming superstar; he could have said or done anything he wanted and most of us would have accepted it.

That he chose not to, illustrates not only the pleasant atmosphere around top class swimming but also reflects on Phelps, the man.

In an era where Phelps’s nation is suffering a bit of an image problem abroad, Phelps represents America at its best — excellence, courtesy, ambition and dedication, all delivered in an under-stated manner.

He beats everyone but you never hear a bad word about him — and that takes some doing.

PHOTO: Michael Phelps listens to the national anthem during the medal presentation ceremony for the men’s 200m individual medley swimming final at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 15, 2008. REUTERS/David Gray

In which Julian Linden, Martin Petty, Ossian Shine and myself combine to discuss Harry Potter, Rocky and Mary Poppins, as well as all the sport you could shake a stick at.

This one’s short and sweet so go ahead and give it a click. What else have you got to do for the next seven minutes?

Six races, six world records and six gold medals: there really is no stopping Michael Phelps at these Games.

The man from Baltimore finished over a second ahead of his closest rival, Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, in the men’s 200 metres individual medley on Friday to close to within one of Mark Spitz’s record of seven golds at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Ryan Lochte, pictured above, was third.

Phelps is targeting eight golds in Beijing and who would now bet against him?

Continuing the theme of Phelps becoming an independent sovereign nation (see yesterday’s post) this latest success would be enough to put him level in the medals table with South Korea and Italy (if you include the relays) and behind only China, the U.S. and Germany.

Not bad for one man and his goggles.

Roger Federer came to Beijing hoping for a singles gold medal to ease the pain of losing the last two major finals and his number one ranking to Rafa Nadal.

Tennis at the Olympics may rank far below the Grand Slams but considering he has not won one of those this year a gold medal would still have served very nicely, thanks very much.

Sadly for the Swiss, he lost 6-4 7-6 to James Blake in the quarter-finals on Thursday, a miserable day all round given the rain that was falling.

The Williams sisters also went out, double Olympic champion Venus beaten 7-5 7-5 by China’s Li Na and Serena losing to Elena Dementieva.

Away from the tennis, Michael Phelps was for once not the story. Alain Bernard of France won the men’s 100m freestyle in the Water Cube, while there was a nasty incident when a Swedish wrestler tossed away his bronze medal in disgust at the refereeing that cost him a shot at gold.

Otherwise, it was a golden day for Asia, as Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima completed a breaststroke double double and Chinese gymnast Yang Wei ended eight years of hurt in the men’s individual all-round event.

For story of the day and picture of the day, look a bit further down the page. Quote of the day? Nothing great, so I thought I’d give you a joke of the day instead. This was overheard in the Athletes Village:

“Are you a pole vaulter?”
 
“No, I am German, but how did you know my name is Walter?”

Goodnight.

* You can read the Olympic desk’s pick of day six here.

PHOTO: Roger Federer reacts during his defeat by James Blake of the U.S. in the mens’s singles tennis quarterfinals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 14, 2008. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Michael Phelps and the swimming have been great, I’ve really enjoyed the beach volleyball, the Greco-Roman wrestling has been interesting and I’ve even watched the archery.

All in all, the last six days have been a really good warm up, but now I’m ready for the real action, which it does on the track in the Bird’s Nest Stadium on Friday morning.

Athletics, for all its problems, remains the heart and soul of the Olympics and the men’s 100 metres is the heart and soul of athletics.

Memories of the voice of former BBC commentator David Coleman calmly, authoritatively and almost whispering: “The Olympic 100 metre final” as the eight men make their final fidgets signal a flashback to that overwhelming excitement of expectation no other sporting event could match.

Being there, two metres from the track, bang on the finish line, is something else.

The race takes less than 10 seconds yet produces millions of printed words, untold hours of TV and years of discussions and arguments.

Over the next 10 days, in front of 91,000 people and hundreds of millions of TV viewers, dozens more great stories of human endeavour will captivate the world as the Olympic motto of “Higher, faster, stronger” is made real.

Thanks to all you bit-part players but it’s time to leave the stage.

Let the real Games begin.

Gary Hershorn writes: Photographers at the Olympics are always waiting for the cliché medals ceremony images, those being a bite or kiss of the medal.

As corny as they may be, once in awhile the framing all comes together and actually produces a nice photo that newspapers love to publish. Alain Bernard kissing his gold medal after winning the men’s 100 meters freestyle final was one such photo.

Alain Bernard of France kisses his gold medal for the men’s 100m freestyle swimming final during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Aquatics Centre, August 14, 2008. REUTERS/David Gray

Gary Hershorn is news Editor, Reuters Pictures, America. For a selection of other great Reuters pix from the Games click here. For the previous day’s chosen picture click here (and if you’ve got a strong stomach, go here).