US swimmer Michael Phelps carved his name among Olympic greats yesterday, winning a record-equalling ninth gold on a dominant morning for Americans in the pool.
Only US athlete Carl Lewis, US swimmer Mark Spitz, Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina have won as many golds as Phelps, who could better them all today when he swims in two more finals.
Phelps threatens to re-write many pages of the sporting records in a phenomenal individual display in Beijing.
His third gold in the Chinese capital keeps him on his long march to a target of eight wins. That would better Spitz's 1972 tally of seven golds in one Olympics.
Spitz set world record times in all of his victories at the Munich Games, a feat which Phelps could also eclipse. Each of Phelps' Beijing golds has come in a new world best time.
The lanky 23-year-old American was in imperious form in the 200m freestyle final, leading from the start and pulling a body length clear by the halfway stage. He hit the wall in 1:42:96 to destroy his own world record by 0.90 seconds.
"To be tied for the most Olympic golds of all time, with those names in Olympic history... it is a pretty amazing accomplishment, said Phelps, who was back in the pool winning a 200m butterfly semi-final less than an hour later.
His dazzling swim was the first of three victories for American swimmers in under 20 minutes, pushing the US up to second spot in the medal table behind China.
World champion Natalie Coughlin forced Kirsty Coventry to settle for silver in the women's 100 backstroke, dashing the Zimbabwe national's ambition to bring sporting cheer to her troubled country.
Coughlin held off the fast-finishing Coventry to touch the wall first in 58.96 seconds, just 0.19 outside the world record of 58.77 the Zimbabwean set during Monday's semi-finals.
Coventry finished second in 59.19 to claim her second silver medal in Beijing after being runner-up in the 400 individual medley while American Margaret Hoelzer won bronze in 59.34.
Coughlin, who won a relay silver on the first day of finals in Beijing, also won the 100 backstroke title at Athens and becomes the first woman to defend the title since the event was first introduced to the Olympics in 1924.
Cool and calm under pressure, Aaron Peirsol rose to the big occasion yet again to become the first man in 36 years to retain the Olympic 100 metres backstroke title.
Slower than his rivals in the early rounds, Peirsol utterly outswam them in yesterday's final to lower the world record for the fifth time and emulate Roland Matthes, of the old East Germany, the last man to win the event twice, in 1968 and 1972.
Peirsol, who picked up the Olympic 200 backstroke silver medal at 17 in 2000, showed his powers were undiminished by carving 0.35 seconds from his own world record to win by more than half a second in 52.54.
He starts the defence of his 200 metre title today.
Australian world champion Leisel Jones, two individual silvers and bronze to her name from 2000 and 2004, finally won an individual Olympic gold in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.17).
Criticised for being a sore loser in Athens when she missed out on gold, Jones changed her coach and approach to swimming.
"It has been a long journey, a long eight years," said Jones, who first appeared at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000, when she won a silver in the 100 breaststroke when only 15-years-old.
Meanwhile, American swimming success, led by Phelps, has helped draw huge audiences for the Olympics back home, where broadcaster NBC said they had more viewers for any summer Games held outside the United States since 1976.
Factbox
Olympians to win nine golds before Phelps
1. Paavo Nurmi (Finland). The Flying Finn's tally is all the more striking because his wins came in endurance running, specialising in the 1,500 and 10,000 metre races from 1920 to 1928. His gold haul might have been higher but his Olympic career was cut short after he was charged with being a professional.
2. Larysa Latynina (Soviet Union). The Ukrainian gymnast was strong in every discipline, taking gold in the All-round event twice and leading the Soviets to victory in the team event three times. She netted six medals in each of her three Olympics (1956, 1960 and 1964) giving her the most medals of any athlete at 18.
3. Mark Spitz (United States). The US swimmer had predicted before the 1968 Olympics that he would win six golds. He took only two but more than redeemed himself in 1972. Spitz claimed seven golds (the most in one Olympics for any athlete and set world records with each). Against conventional swimming practice, he set that mark unshaven, wearing a moustache.
4. Carl Lewis (United States). King Carl reigned over the long jump in four straight Games from 1984 to 1996 and also won the 100 metres twice, taking the 1988 title after Canada's Ben Johnson was disqualified for doping. He also won gold in the 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay. Although he has spoken out against the sports doping culture, it emerged in 2003 that he had failed three tests in 1988 after taking a banned stimulant. He escaped punishment.