Records are meant to be broken, but with respect to the record for the most Olympic Gold Medals won by an individual, it might have been more correct to say that “records are meant to be tied”. That’s what the Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina did in 1964 when she won her ninth gold medal in 1964, equaling the record of Paavo Nurmi (“The Flying Finn”) who won his ninth Gold Medal in 1928. Swimmer Mark also Spitz joined the “Nine Gold Club” in 1972, and he was followed by track star Carl Lewis, in 1984.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLhTCwor1YQ
Then on August 13, 2008, Michael Phelps reminded the world that records really are meant to be broken. On that day in Beijing, Phelps swam his way to his 10th and 11th Olympic Gold Medals.
He started working on his Gold Medal collection at the Athens Olympics in 2004. He bagged six of them there. In Beijing in 2008, Phelps also bested Spitz’s record for most Gold Medals won in a single Olympics. He came home from Beijing with eight. Spitz won seven in Munich, 1972.
By the end of the 2008 Olympics, Phelps had won 15 Gold Medals, but he wasn’t finished. He won three more at London in 2012, running his total up to 18.
BEIJING, Aug. 13 — Perhaps the measure of where Michael Phelps now stands — not only in the history of the Olympics, but in the history of athletics — is that he can pull off an unprecedented feat and have disgust wash over his face. Following his performance Wednesday morning — two more races, two more gold medals, two more world records, cue the yawns — Phelps couldn’t escape the idea that even a swim others couldn’t imagine can be flawed.
“I couldn’t see anything for the last 100” meters, he said. “My goggles pretty much filled up with water.”
Read more: Washington Post
US swimmer Michael Phelps broke the record for Olympic gold medals won by taking his 10th and 11th in a double victory on Wednesday.
Phelps, 23, won his fourth gold of the Beijing Olympics and 10th of all time with victory in the 200m butterfly.
And he claimed yet another gold as part of the US 4x200m freestyle team.
Phelps has now surpassed the nine golds won by Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina to cement his place in Olympic history.
Read more:BBC
Right before he dove into the pool the morning of Aug. 13, Michael Phelps got a text message from one of his buddies back home. “Dude, it’s ridiculous how many times a day I have to see your ugly face,” it read. At the end, his friend left simple instructions. “It’s time to be the best ever.”
Phelps complied. At the Beijing Water Cube around 10:30AM, Michael Phelps swam two races, and won more gold medals. He broke two more world records, and got himself a new title: the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time.
Read more: Time.com