2008 Beijing Olympics: Phelps wins 8th gold
18 Aug 2008
Mumbai: The 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing will always be in the record books, thanks to the achievements of Michael Phelps. The American swimmer won a record eight gold medals in the nine-day swimming event at Beijing. Phelps beat the 36 year old single-Olympic games record of seven gold medals held by fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz in Munich in 1972.
In achieving this remarkable feat, Phelps broke world record time in seven events and beat the Olympic record to clinch his eighth gold.
Meanwhile, host nation China leads the overall medal standings with 37 gold medals. The Asian giant has already surpassed its haul of 32 gold medals in Athens in 2004. The multi-sport event will conclude on 24 August 2008.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became the fastest man on Earth, when he won the 100 metres event in a record time of 9.69 seconds
Interestingly, Beijing 2008 will always be remembered by the sport-loving Indian population for Abhinav Bindra, who claimed the country's first ever individual gold medal in the Olympics. Bindra's gold in rifle-shooting has so far been the only medal won by India, however more medals are expected from the boxing contingent.
| The top-ten positions in the medal tally so far: | |||||
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | China (CHN) | 37 | 14 | 14 | 65 |
| 2 | United States (USA) | 19 | 22 | 25 | 66 |
| 3 | GBR - Great Britain | 12 | 7 | 8 | 27 |
| 4 | AUS - Australia | 11 | 10 | 12 | 33 |
| 5 | Germany (GER) | 9 | 6 | 7 | 21 |
| 6 | South Korea (KOR) | 8 | 9 | 5 | 22 |
| 7 | Japan (JPN) | 8 | 5 | 7 | 20 |
| 8 | Russia (RUS) | 7 | 12 | 13 | 32 |
| 9 | Italy (ITA) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| 10 | Ukraine (UKR) | 5 | 3 | 7 | 15 |
India is in 38th position with 1 medal
