Phelps,Olympic Games 2008

(BEIJING, August 17) -- Day nine was by far the busiest day of Beijing 2008 so far -- with some 37 medals doled out as competitions concluded and old Olympic friends left the limelight, while others emerged from the shadows. Today, though, the spotlight shone on just one man.

Sometimes words are not enough. The impish smile – one of pride at his immense achievements this past week – across the face of Michael Phelps spoke volumes as he received his eighth epoch-making gold medal of Beijing 2008.

As a member of the United States's triumphant Men's 4 x 100 Medley team, Phelps became the most decorated man in Olympic history: Not only has he broken Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of winning seven gold medals in a single Olympic Games, but with 14 gold medals overall, he has won five more than his nearest rivals. For good measure, he set seven world records in winning those eight medals. It was a majestic week by anyone's standards.

Unlike Saturday's (August 16) 100m Butterfly final, which he won by the tightest of margins, this was no close-fought nail-biter. It took the US team half of the race to hit the front, but Phelps put them in ahead, and by the time Jason Lezak dived in to swim the final leg the result was a foregone conclusion.

Was this Phelps's last Olympic appearance? Will the 23-year-old still be around to scoop up more medals at London 2012? Who can say -- but if he needs any inspiration, all he had to do was look at two of today's swimming silver medalists.

If Beijing 2008 was a film, 41-year-old Dara Torres would have won the Women's 50m Freestyle final, and 28-year-old Grant Hackett would have retained his Men's 1500m crown for the third successive time.