Phelps joins the Olympic greats

Coupled with his six from Athens in 2004, he joined compatriots Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz, Finland8217;s Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina at the top of the pile with nine career golds.

Phelps8217; team mates Aaron Peirsol and Natalie Coughlin added to their Olympic stockpiles by winning the 100 backstroke titles.

Peirsol obliterated his own world record to win the men8217;s gold while Coughlin beat Zimbabwe8217;s Kirsty Coventry to become the first woman to successfully defend the women8217;s title.

Only Australia8217;s Leisel Jones prevented a US cleansweep of Tuesday8217;s four finals by winning the 100 breaststroke gold to capture the only title that has eluded her.

Phelps, who was beaten by Australia8217;s Ian Thorpe in the 200 at Athens but has since made the event his own, was a body length clear at halfway and hit the wall in 1:42.96 to destroy his own world record by 0.90 seconds.

South Korea8217;s Park Tae-Hwan, the 400 gold medallist, took silver and American Peter Vanderkaay the bronze but no-one could even get close to Phelps.

8220;That8217;s great, I just wanted to be out there at the 50 metre point and be there at the 100. After that it was just open water,8221; said Phelps, who is chasing an unprecedented eight gold medals in Beijing.

Although Peirsol and Coughlin do not amass as many gold medals or headlines as Phelps they showed again that they are just as dominant in their chosen events.

Peirsol has ruled men8217;s backstroke since he won his first 200m world title seven years ago and now has four Olympic gold medals after winning three at Athens four years ago.

Peirsol stormed home on the last lap after being second at the turn to reach the wall first in 52.54 seconds, carving 0.35 off the world record he set at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Team mate Matt Grevers finished second to claim the silver medal in 53.11 while Russia8217;s Arkady Vyatchanin and Australia8217;s Hayden Stoeckel dead heated for bronze in a time of 53.18.

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 Monday8217;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.

8220;It8217;s a great feeling, I8217;m overjoyed,8221; Coughlin said.

8220;The first time I looked at the clock I thought I8217;d made a mistake but I saw the 8216;18217; next to my name I realised I8217;d got it.8221;

Jones has been among the world8217;s best women breaststrokers for nearly a decade but this was her first individual Olympic gold medal after a series of near-misses at Sydney and Athens.

The world champion and world record holder opened up a big lead on the first lap then speared away to win in 1:05.17. American Rebecca Soni was second in 1:06.73 while Austria8217;s Mirna Jukic was third in 1:07.34.