RPT-Olympics-Swimming-Phelps moves swimming into new territory

By Julian Linden

BEIJING (Reuters) - The long search to find someone to better Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics finally ended in Beijing.

American Michael Phelps won eight golds, seven of them in world record time, to confirm his status as the best swimmer of all time and lay claim to being the greatest Olympian.

Added to his titles from Athens, he became the most prolific Olympic gold medallist in any sport with a total of 14, and the possibility of more to come at the next Games in London in 2012.

He also earned himself a $1 million bonus from his sponsors, who were unable to find an insurer willing to bet against him, even though his eight victories were anything but easy.

Six of his golds, the 200 and 400 metres individual medley, the 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle, the medley relay and the 4x200 freestyle relay, were won comfortably but he needed a combination of luck and genius to win his other two.

He dodged a bullet in the 4x100 freestyle relay when team mate Jason Lezak mowed down Frenchman Alain Bernard, who won the 100 freestyle individual gold, on the anchor leg.

He then demonstrated his own incredible will to win when he came from behind in the 100 butterfly final to get his hands on the wall one-hundredth of a second before Serbia's Milorad Cavic.

"Nothing is impossible," Phelps said. "All it takes is an imagination."