2004 Summer Olympic Games
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Phelps' dominance has brought comparisons to former swimming great
Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in the
1972 Summer Olympics, a world record. Phelps tied Mark Spitz's record of 4 individual gold medals by winning four himself. Phelps had the chance to break Spitz's record of 7 total gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics by competing in eight swimming events (5 of which were individual events): the 200 m freestyle, the 100 m butterfly, the 200 m butterfly, the 200 m individual medley, the 400 m individual medley, the 4x100 m freestyle relay, 4x200 m freestyle relay, and the 4x100 m medley relay. However, his 4x100 m freestyle relay team only won the bronze medal, and he personally placed for bronze in the 200 m freestyle. Thus, he fell short of that record. However, he did win eight medals in one Olympics, a feat only achieved by
Alexander Dityatin, a gymnast, in the
1980 Olympics in Moscow.
Had he won seven golds, he would have been eligible for a
US$1 million bonus from his sponsor,
Speedo.</br>
Phelps does, however, have another chance at this $1 million should he win eight golds at the
2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing, China.
On
August 14, 2004, he won his first Olympic gold, in the 400 m individual medley, setting another new world record (4:08.26). On
August 16 he was beaten by the Australian winner
Ian Thorpe and the Dutch
Pieter van den Hoogenband in 200 m freestyle final, called the
race of the century.
On
August 20, in the 100 m butterfly final, Phelps defeated American teammate
Ian Crocker (who holds the world record in the event) by just 0.04 seconds. Traditionally, the Olympian who places highest in an individual event will be automatically given the corresponding leg of the 4x100 m medley relay. This gave Phelps an automatic entry into the medley relay but he deferred and Crocker swam instead. The American medley team went on to win the event in world record time, and, since he had raced in a preliminary heat of the medley relay, Phelps was also awarded a gold medal along with the team members that competed in the final.
