Gold No. 6
BEIJING, (AFP) - - Unstoppable Michael Phelps won his sixth gold medal with his sixth world record of the Beijing Games Friday, his triumph in the 200m medley moving him closer to an historic eight titles.
Phelps led throughout and pulled away on the final freestyle leg to win by more than two seconds in a world record of 1min 54.23sec.
Hungarian Laszlo Cseh was second in a European record of 1:56.52, with American Ryan Lochte edged into third place in 1:56.53 - a repeat of the medal finish in the 400m medley on Sunday.
Half an hour earlier, Lochte threw down the gauntlet as he posted a world record to beat defending champion Aaron Peirsol convincingly in the 200m backstroke.
But he was unable to derail his superstar teammate's bid for a record eight golds at one Games, which would surpass the seven-gold standard set by US swimmer Mark Spitz at Munich in 1972.
"Of course, I wanted to beat Michael Phelps," Lochte said. "No matter what the event is, I want to win. But it didn't happen."
It was a hectic day, too, for Phelps, who was back on the blocks half an hour after his triumph, and just minutes after the medal ceremony, to post the second-fastest time in the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly.
"I didn't know I had as little time as I did, I didn't even have time to go into the ready room," he said.
"I went from the ceremony straight into putting my parka on and goggles, cap, and go. It was about two minutes, I knew it was tight, but not that tight."
Phelps has also won gold and claimed world records in the 400m medley, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 4x100m free relay and 4x200m free relay.
Now with 12 for his career, including six from the Athens Games, Phelps owns the most gold medals of any competitor in history in any Olympic sport.
In addition to the 100m fly, he has the 4x100m medley relay remaining.
