Michael Phelps gets third gold, sets world record in 200M freestyle
BEIJING -- Joining Michael Phelps on the podium was teammate Peter Vanderkaay of Rochester, Mich., who won the bronze medal with a time of 1:45.14. The silver went to Park Tae-hwan of South Korea, who touched at 1:44.85.
Lisa Dillman writes:
Phelps took away the tension almost immediately Tuesday morning at the Water Cube, leading by the first 15 meters and then seeming to shift into cruise control, improving his world record in the 200-meter freestyle at the Olympics, going 1 minute 42.96.
Didn't someone by the name of Ian Thorpe used to swim this race? Phelps is three for three, all world records, in these Olympics, including the classic of a 400 free relay on Monday morning.
Kidding aside, in regard to Thorpe, Phelps has managed to rewrite this event in a short period of time, and managed to do the same with Olympic history, winning his ninth Olympic gold medal.
Phelps now has nine career gold medals. He joins an elite group of athletes who have won nine Olympic gold medals, which includes Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Michael Phelps sets a world record time of 1:42.96 to win the gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle. Credit: Jerry Lai/US Presswire
