U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps amazes world with Beijing eight

The American stole the limelight even from Jamaican Usain Bolt's audaciously brilliant 100m win in the athletics showpiece that has been the Beijing Games' other defining moment so far.

On an unhappier note, American shooter Matt Emmons threw away gold with a bizarre misfire on his final shot after he did the same four years ago in Athens by firing at the wrong target.

Phelps, 23, held his arms aloft and hugged team mates after a relatively easy men's 4x100 meters medley relay win unlike the finger-tip finishes in two of his earlier Beijing golds.

The all-time most successful Olympian, who has over nine days in China proved himself to be one of the greatest sportsmen the world has seen, showed he was still human, though.

"I just want to see my mom," said Phelps, who as a kid in Baltimore had a screaming fit at his first swimming lesson because he did not want to get his face wet.

Phelps' 14th career gold, after six in Athens, took him past fellow American Spitz's seven at one Games in Munich. He has five more than anyone else in the Olympics' 112-year history.

"It's been nothing but an upwards rollercoaster but it's been nothing but fun," he added at his moment of triumph, embracing his tearful mother and sister. "With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination."

Phelps achievement has dazzled the Chinese hosts, for whom eight is a lucky number, and brought timely cheer to Americans.

"The economy and gas prices are always on your mind but Michael's success helps you forget depressing things," Los Angeles resident Samantha Higgins said among tens of millions glued to Phelps's every race on TV in the United States.

Before his swim, Day Nine began in Beijing with a triumph for Romania in one of the Olympics' most grueling events.

Constantina Tomescu had time to relax and wave as she entered the Bird's Nest stadium to claim a surprise win in the women's marathon that began in Tiananmen Square. "At the world (half marathon) championships in Canada, everybody said I couldn't run, but I showed today what I can do," she said.

In the highest-profile doping case yet of the Aug. 8-24 Games, Greece's defending women's 400 meters hurdles champion Fani Halkia failed a drug test hours before she was to compete.

DEJA VU FOR SHOOTER
But it has been the scintillating sport, not scandals, in Beijing dominating attention and relegating the pre-Games focus on China's rights record and pollution problems.

Nobody doubted that Sunday was Phelps's day.

Blessed with an arm span bigger than his height, Phelps has pumped himself up with hip-hop before races and always looks for his mother in the stands.

He teamed up with Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak to help the United States smash the existing men's medley relay mark. All but one of Phelps's eight golds have come in world record times, and the other was an Olympic best.

Phelps, who had to overcome attention deficit disorder in childhood, is now guaranteed a lifetime of multi-million dollar corporate deals. "I wanted to put my mind to it and wanted to do something that no one ever did in sport," he added.

Jamaica's Bolt was the other name on everybody's lips.

He sprinted to victory in the 100 meters in world record time on Saturday night despite slowing at the end to check he was ahead and punch his chest in joy in front of 91,000 people.

"I was just having fun, that's me," said Bolt, 21.

While he danced around the Bird's Nest stadium in celebration, cars honked and crowds cheered in a victory party on his Caribbean island of 2.7 million people.

Fast running out of superlatives to describe both Phelps and Bolt, newspapers around the world hailed the Jamaican in terms ranging from the new messiah of speed and the chilled-out flying machine, to "U-bolt" and "Insane Usain."

"Oh, what a show. Oh, what a showoff too," said one paper.

China are way ahead in the medal table with 28 golds to the United States' 17 in a Games that Beijing hopes will showcase a more open face as well as its new global economic clout.

The hosts took one gold when shooter Emmons had his moment of terrible deja vu, unbelievably throwing away a big lead right at the death for the second time in the Olympics.

After firing at the wrong target in Athens, Emmons this time squandered a huge 3.3-point lead on his final shot when he pulled the trigger by mistake while lining up, to register a mere 4.4 after mostly above 10 scores before that.

That error let China's Qiu Jian take gold in the men's 50 m rifle. Emmons finished fourth.

"I didn't feel my trigger shaking but I guess it was," he said.