Michael Phelps Wins His Sixth Gold Medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics on the 200 Meter Individual Medley

United States Swimmer Wins His 6th Gold Medal at These Olympics, and 12th of His Career

Michael Phelps broke his own World Record in the 200 Meter Individual Medley on August 15th, to take home his 6th Gold Medal of the 2008 Summer Olympics. It was thought that teammate Ryan Lochte might pose a threat, but that didn't quite happen, although he did end up winning a Bronze Medal of his own in the race. This was the 6th Gold Medal event for Michael Phelps at these Olympics, and he ran his total to 6 Medals in 6 attempts, further cementing his legendary status as probably the best Olympic swimmer of all time. Breaking his own World Record in the process was just icing on the cake, as he was all business during the 200 Meter IM finals.

Phelps ended up posting a time of 1 minute, 54.23 seconds on his dash for Gold, and creating yet another World Record at these Olympics. It is the 6th World Record he has posted at these Summer Games, and he is probably looking to do the same if he makes it to the finals of his last two events in Beijing, China. On Saturday morning in China, he will be racing in the finals of the 100 meter Butterfly as the second seed in the race, and on Sunday morning, he will finish up his Olympics in the 4x100 Medley Relay with his United States teammates. These are Beijing times, so adjust to Friday day night in the United States for the 100 Butterfly, and Saturday night for the 4x100 Relay. Though Phelps is favored to win both of the races again (with the United States relay team an obvious pick in the 4x100), it doesn't mean that the races are going to be easy for Phelps. He has already swam in 15 races at these Olympics, including qualifying rounds and the medal finals, and these races will put him back in the pool for a 16th and 17th time at these Olympics alone.