Michael Phelps of the United States celebrates after winning the men's 200-meter freestyle final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 12, 2008. Phelps set a new world record and won the gold medal in the event with 1 minute 42.96 seconds. American super fish Michael Phelps won his third gold medal at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday. He came first in the men's 200-meter freestyle race at the Water Cube stadium.
Phelps won in a time of 1:42.96, a new world record and the first recorded time under 1:43. The previous world record was 1:43.86, and the previous Olympic record was 1:44.71. It was also the third time Phelps broke the world record at the Beijing Olympics.
When talking about his race plan, the prodigy said: "I wanted to try and get out into open water. I was in the outside lane so it was kind of difficult for the others to see me.
"I just wanted to get out there and try to hold on. I knew Taehwan (KOR) was going to have a good last 50 (meters), so I tried to start as far ahead as I could in the first 100 to 150."
The 23-year-old American completely dominated the rest of the field in the race. His victory means he has now joined an elite group of Olympians to win nine career golds - matching fellow swimmer Mark Spitz, U.S. track and field star Carl Lewis, Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina.
Phelps and his teammates were on an extreme high after a remarkable win in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay Monday morning where they sensationally pushed themselves forward with veteran Jason Lezak's final lap, while five out of the eight teams surpassed the old world record mark.
Phelps defended his title of the men's 400-meter individual medley also with a world record performance on Sunday.
Source:Xinhua
