Phelps swims to fifth gold

It was his second of the day and 11th career gold medal.

BEIJING (AP) — Michael Phelps won his fifth Olympic gold medal Wednesday, swimming the leadoff leg of the 800-meter freestyle relay and helping the United States smash the old world record by 4.68 seconds.

Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay led the entire race, winning in 6 minutes, 58.56 seconds. That bettered the old mark of 7:03.24 set by the U.S. at last year’s world championships in Australia.

Phelps earned his 11th career gold medal and second of the day. About an hour earlier, he won the 200 butterfly. He is 5-for-5 with world records in each of his events.

Russia took the silver in 7:03.70. Australia earned the bronze in 7:04.98.

In the 200-meter butterfly, Phelps touched in 1 minute, 52.03 seconds, breaking his old mark of 1:52.09 set at last year’s world championships in Australia.

It was Phelps’ 10th career gold medal, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and two others for most golds.

Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver in 1:52.70. Takeshi Matsuda of Japan got the bronze in 1:52.97.

Stephanie Rice of Australia has won the 200-meter individual medley, lowering her own world record and adding to her victory in the 400 IM.

She won in 2 minutes, 8.45 seconds, erasing her mark of 2:08.92 set at the Australian trials in March.

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe took the silver in 2:08.59, also below the previous world record. Natalie Coughlin of the United States won the bronze in 2:10.34, her third medal of the games.

American Katie Hoff picked up her second fourth-place of the morning, finishing behind Coughlin in 2:10.68. She also was just out of the medals in the 200 freestyle.

In the fly, his signature stroke, Phelps was second at the first flip, then pushed it into another gear, his long arms gobbling up huge chunks of water as he literally sailed along atop the surface. He touched the wall in 1 minutes, 52.03 seconds, breaking his mark of 1:52.09 from last year’s world championships.

He barely smiled as he looked at the board, breathing heavily and hanging on the lane rope. Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh really pushed it at the end, but settled for silver in 1:52.70. Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:52.97.

Phelps rubbed his eyes and said climbing from the pool, “I can’t see anything.” A pair of leaky goggles kept him from even seeing the wall as he finished.

Still, it was another gold and another record, taking Phelps halfway to his goal of beating Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in a single games.

“My goggles kept filling up with water during the race,” he said. “I wanted a world record, I wanted 1:51 or better, but in the circumstances not too bad I guess.”

Everyone wanted to get a look at history, including the U.S. men’s basketball team. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were among those cheering on Phelps from poolside seats. James posed for pictures with Phelps’ mom, Debbie.

Three worlds records fell before Phelps even walked on deck.

In the semifinals of the 100 free, Australia’s Eamon Sullivan and France’s Alain Bernard played takeaway with the record Sullivan set two days earlier.

In the first heat, Bernard won in 47.20 to knock down Sullivan’s mark of 47.24 from the leadoff leg of the memorable 400 free relay. That record lasted all of 2 minutes. Sullivan won the second heat in 47.05, setting up a thrilling showdown in Thursday’s final.

“Records don’t mean much,” Sullivan said. “They don’t win medals at the end of the day, unfortunately. But it gives me confidence that I can swim my own race under pressure.”

American Jason Lezak, who chased down Bernard in the relay, advanced to the final with the sixth-best time, 47.98. The other U.S. swimmer, Garrett Weber-Gale, failed to advance.

Then it was Federica Pelligrini’s turn. The Italian broke the mark she set a day earlier in the semifinals, winning gold in 1:54.82. The old record was 1:55.45.

Sara Isakovic of Slovenia claimed the bronze in 1:54.97, and China’s Pang Jiaying thrilled the home fans by passing Katie Hoff on the final lap to take bronze in 1:55.05.

It was another disappointment for Hoff, who looked to be one of the big stories of the game when she qualified in five individual events — the same number as Phelps.

XToday’s Olympic TV coverage/C2.