Phelps has the golden touch

Michael Phelps’ final stroke got his hands on the wall one-hundredth of a second ahead of Serbian Milorad Cavic to secure his seventh gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly. He swam into history by matching Mark Spitz’s record of winning seven gold medals in the 1972 Munich Games.

But it did not come without some controversy, as the Serbians filed a protest following the outcome of the race. After careful review of the race tape provided by FINA (swimming’s governing body), the Serbian delegation conceded victory to Phelps. The tape was slowed to one frame for every 10-thousandth of a second to show the American actually touching the wall first at the end of the race.

He was sluggish at the start, as Phelps was seventh (out of eight) at the turn. Then he put it into high gear, as his long arms began windmilling through the water. Phelps was able to close the gap on Cavic in no time.

Tomorrow evening, Phelps will return to swim his final event of the games, as he takes the butterfly leg of the U.S. medley relay team. The Americans are favored, so Phelps should win his record-breaking eighth gold medal. Australia has a great relay team, so it should be quite a race.

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