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Phelps wins eighth gold, sets Olympic record

Michael Phelps won an eighth gold medals as part of the U.S. men's medley relay team Saturday night – securing his spot as the winningest athlete in Olympic history.

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BEIJING, CHINA — The U.S. men's 400 medley relay team set a world-record to win an Olympic gold medal – and deliver an eighth gold medal for Michael Phelps on Saturday night.

Phelps broke Mark Spitz's vaunted record of seven golds in a single games set in the 1972 Munich Games.

Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak won in 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.

The U.S. swept the men's relays in Beijing, with Phelps leading off in the 400 and 800 free relays. Lezak anchored the 400 free to a narrow victory over France to preserve Phelps' historic bid.

Australia took the silver in 3:30.04, while Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18.

In winning those eight gold medals, Phelps also set seven world records during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. He was already the winningest athlete in Olympic history with 14 golds and two brone medals.

Rival swimmers have come up with all sorts of amusing theories for Phelps' dominance. He's from outer space. He's come back from the future in a time machine. He's some sort of human rocket.

The official Xinhua News Agency dubbed Phelps "the American superfish."

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