Phelps set to go past Lewis

Michael Phelps will have won two more gold medals than anyone else in Olympic history if he wins today.

If the lighting of the flame gave the Olympic Games their most spectacular image then Michael Phelps is providing them with a gateway to immortality. The American swim star yesterday won his third gold medal of these Games in the 200m freestyle with yet another world record to join athlete Carl Lewis, swimmer Mark Spitz, runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina as the greatest Olympians of all-time on nine golds.

Just one more in the 200m butterfly or 4x200m freestyle relay today and Phelps, who won six golds in Athens, will be out on his own and poised to push the frontiers of Olympic competition to a place which might not be breached for the rest of this century. Phelps said: "To be tied for the most Olympic golds of all time with those names in Olympic history is an amazing accomplishment. "I didn't even know until Bob (the coach Bob Bowman) reminded me of it right after the 200 free. He said 'You've tied it.' It's pretty cool. It's certainly an honour. I've been able to spend some time with Carl Lewis and exchange a few words with Spitz here and there."

With Phelps having five more opportunities to garner more gold here and with the lure of breaking the record of seven consecutive golds, set by Spitz in Munich in 1972, there is a realistic chance that Phelps's career tally could stretch to 14 golds by the end of the week. With history of such magnitude at stake the $1million (roughly Dh3.6m) bonus he has been promised by the sponsors to break the Spitz record is merely a sideshow. But it is the manner in which Phelps is generating excitement at these Games which is so impressive. His first gold came amid the mayhem caused by the presence of American president George Bush and what appeared to be half his White House aides at the National Aquatics Centre.

The second was down to the fingertips of Jason Lezak, the oldest man on the US team, but who somehow clawed back a final leg deficit in the 4x100m freestyle relay to draw a feral scream from Phelps which demonstrated two things. One, his cavernous lung power. Two, just how much the record means to him. By contrast, the third was a glide in the Olympic park even though his time of 1:42.96 lowered his own world record by nine 10ths of a second and beat closest rival, the Korean Taehwan Park, by almost two seconds. Apart from the capacity of the Chinese volunteers to hold a smile all day long there are few things more impressive at these Olympics than Phelps. His explosive start took half a metre out of the field. His turns, like long, satisfying swigs from the smoothest of beers, took him a body length clear by half-way.

After that, all that was required was to explain the extra motivation he used in a race in which four years ago he came third behind winner Ian Thorpe. Phelps, whose golds are fuelled by pasta, pizza and two massages a day, said: "I hate to lose. I was third in the 200 free four years ago and when I lose it motivates me to try to swim faster. I couldn't ask for anything else." The hardest part so far has been exorcising the emotion of the breathtaking finish to that 4x100m relay. Phelps said: "It wasn't easy putting that behind me. I had friends texting me all afternoon. I had to force myself to put it out of my head. With so many races I have to be totally focused. That was a perfect race at the perfect time."

Perfect. Not a bad way to describe Phelps right now. * PA Sport