Sixth gold and record for Phelps

By Julian Linden

BEIJING (Reuters) - American Michael Phelps won his sixth gold medal and set his sixth world record at the Beijing Olympics on Friday with victory in the men's 200 metres individual medley.

Phelps inched closer to his ultimate goal of winning eight golds in a single Olympics when he touched the wall first in one minute 54.23 seconds, 0.57 inside his previous record of 1:54.80 set at last month's U.S. Olympic trials.

Hungary's Laszlo Cseh finished second in 1:56.52 to collect his third silver medal behind Phelps this week.

Phelps's American team mate Ryan Lochte finished third in 1:56.53 despite diving back into the pool half an hour after he broke the 200 backstroke world record to win his first individual gold.

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)