By narrowest margin, Phelps ties Spitz's gold standard

By Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 15, 2008 at 1:36 p.m.

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OLYSW130 - United States' Michael Phelps reacts as he wins gold in the final of the men's 100-meter freestyle during the swimming competitions in the National Aquatics Center at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

Shock. Fear. Relief. Euphoria.

Choose your feelings.

Michael Phelps experienced all those emotions during the 100-meter butterfly, a harrowingly close race for the indefatigable American, who wondered if he finally would come up short in his historic quest for eight Olympic gold medals.

"I had to take my goggles off, to make sure '1' was next to my name," he said.

In the end, though, it was the same old story Friday (today in Beijing) at the Water Cube, with Phelps pouring it on, then stretching his unusually long arms to out-touch Milorad Cavic of Serbia by a margin too narrow to register with an unaided eye. It was his seventh gold in the Beijing Games, which matches Mark Spitz's effort at the 1972 Munich Games. No. 8 is a near certainty today (Sunday in Beijing), when he takes part in the 400 medley relay.

Phelps took an extra half-stroke - a smart move that won the race

"When I took that extra half-stroke, I thought I'd lost the race," Phelps said.

So did Cavic and his Serbian contingent. They lodged a formal, written protest. FINA officials said they viewed replays to the one- ten-thousandth of a second.

"It was very clear that the Serbian swimmer finished second," Nigerian referee Ben Ekumbo said. "One was stroking. The other was gliding."

Ekumbo added that FINA broke with protocol and invited Serbian officials to review the decisive tape and, afterward, the Serbs chose to not appeal.

USA Swimming spokesman Jamie Olson said the tape was slowed to one frame every 10-thousandths of a second to make sure Phelps actually touched first.

"I think if we (raced) again, I'd win it," said Cavic, who finished in 50.59 - .01 seconds behind Phelps' 50.58 and the only time in these Olympics that he won an event without breaking the world record. Andrew Lauterstein of Austria took the bronze (51.12).

Did Phelps simply out-touch Cavic? Did Cavic only glancingly touch the wall, failing to activate the timer? Or was Phelps lucky and good, much like in the 400 freestyle relay, when Jason Lezak's furious finish saved a gold for Phelps?

"The last two Olympics I've been able to nail my finishes," Phelps said. "I'm happy, but kind of at a loss for words."

In fact, Phelps is known as a great closer, able not only to summon great energy at the end, but also to hit the wall at peak speed with arms and hands fully extended.

"I had a long finish; Michael Phelps had a short finish," said Cavic, meaning he was reaching and that Phelps had, in fact, closed in his typical fashion.

"I'm not angry at all. Losing by .01 of a second is the most difficult loss you can have at the Olympics. I'm disappointed, but it's a miracle I'm here. I retired 11/2 years ago. In my heart, I'm enjoying the experience."

Phelps hasn't only won all his individual events in Beijing, he has dominated them. But the 100 fly is the only one in which he lacked a world record entering the Games. He and teammate Ian Crocker were 2-2 in major international meets the last five years. And Phelps failed to place among the top three in prelims and the semis.

At the halfway point, Cavic owned the lead and appeared on course to ruin Phelp's quest.

"There was no sense looking over (the last 10 meters)," he said. "I knew he was there; I knew he was coming."

Before the race, Cavic's coach offered to clip some hair off the back of his neck, apparently hoping to reduce excess drag and give his swimmer a winner's edge.

But the difference was Phelps' will to win and a masterful knack for playing keep away.

"When I saw (the standings) - that's when I sort of let out my roar," he said.

TORRES IN A GOOD SPOT: Dara Torres, the 41-year-old mom swimming in her American-record fifth Olympics, will have the top starting position for the final of the 50-meter freestyle after posting the fastest time in semifinal heats today.

Torres' time of 24.27 was the sixth fastest this year and 0.15 seconds better than anyone else.

World record-holder Lisbeth Trickett of Australia also advanced to the final, as did Kara Lynn Joyce of the United States.

"I looked and I saw that I was first," said Torres, who won bronze in the 50 in Sydney, Australia, eight years ago. "That's a little more pressure, and I'm old enough to be able to handle it."

Torres already has a silver medal in Beijing, having anchored the U.S. women in the 400 free relay.

But an individual medal would be nice, too, considering she had retired after giving birth to her first child in 2006, thinking she was done competing.

At the start of this semifinal, Torres was playing mom - concerned about helping Therese Alshammar of Sweden fix her torn swimsuit.

"I tried to help her with it, tried to do it up, and it ripped again," Torres said. "I was saying, 'Her suit's ripped' and waving my arms around."

MEN'S 50 FREESTYLE: Cesar Cielo of Brazil sprinted to an Olympic gold medal, beating a field of heavyweight contenders with an Olympic-record time.

He won in 21.30 seconds this morning, lowering his own Olympic mark of 21.34 set in the semifinals. Cielo tied American Jason Lezak for bronze in the 100 free. It was Brazil's first Olympic swimming gold medal.

Amaury Leveaux of France took the silver, in 21.45. Alain Bernard of France, the 100-meter champion, earned the bronze, in 21.49.

World champion Ben Wildman-Tobriner of the United States was fifth, in 21.64.

Aussie Eamon Sullivan, the world record-holder and silver medalist in the 100, was sixth, in 21.65.

WOMEN'S 200 BACKSTROKE: Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe defended her Olympic title, winning in a world- record time.

She led all the way this morning, touching in 2 minutes, 5.24 seconds, lowering the mark of 2:06.09 set by Margaret Hoelzer at the U.S. trials last month.

Hoezler took the silver, in 2:06.23. Reiko Nakamura of Japan earned the bronze, in 2:07.13. American Elizabeth Beisel was fifth.

WOMEN'S 800 FREESTYLE: Rebecca Adlington of Britain won an Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle, breaking Janet Evans' 19-year-old world record.

Adlington touched in 8 minutes, 14.10 seconds today, breaking the oldest record in swimming of 8:16.22 set by the American in Tokyo on Aug. 20, 1989.

Alessia Filippi of Italy took the silver, in 8:20.23. Lotte Friis of Denmark earned the bronze, in 8:23.03.

Adlington completed a sweep of the women's distance events in Beijing, having upset American Katie Hoff to win the 400 freestyle.

Men's 50 freestyle: 1. Cesar Cielo Filho, Brazil, 21.30. 2. Amaury Leveaux, France, 21.45. 3. Alain Bernard, France, 21.49. 4. Ashley Callus, Australia, 21.62. 5. Ben Wildman-Tobriner, San Francisco, 21.64. 6. Eamon Sullivan, Australia, 21.65. 7. Roland Schoeman, South Africa, 21.67. 8. Stefan Nystrand, Sweden, 21.72.

Men's 100 butterfly: 1. Michael Phelps, Baltimore, 50.58. 2. Milorad Cavic, Serbia, 50.59. 3. Andrew Lauterstein, Australia, 51.12. 4. Ian Crocker, Portland, Maine, 51.13. 5. Jason Dunford, Kenya, 51.47. 6. Takuro Fujii, Japan, 51.50. 7. Andrii Serdinov, Ukraine, 51.59. 8. Ryan Pini, Papua New Guinea, 51.86.

Women's 200 backstroke: 1. Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe, 2:05.24. 2. Margaret Hoelzer, Huntsville, Ala., 2:06.23. 3. Reiko Nakamura, Japan, 2:07.13. 4. Anastasia Zueva, Russia, 2:07.88. 5. Elizabeth Beisel, Saunderstown, R.I., 2:08.23. 6. Elizabeth Simmonds, Britain, 2:08.51. 7. Meagen Nay, Australia, 2:08.84. 8. Belinda Hocking, Australia, 2:10.12.

Women's 800 freestyle: 1. Rebecca Adlington, Britain, 8:14.10. 2. Alessia Filippi, Italy, 8:20.23. 3. Lotte Friis, Denmark, 8:23.03. 4. Camelia Alina Potec, Romania, 8:23.11. 5. Li Xuanxu, China, 8:26.34. 6. Kylie Palmer, Australia, 8:26.39. 7. Elena Sokolova, Russia, 8:29.79. 8. Cassandra Patten, Britain, 8:32.35.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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