NEWSMichael Phelps Sets Record With 19th Olympic Gold Medal
July 31 2012, Published 8:18 a.m. ET
CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!
After suffering a loss to Ryan Lochte and two others by finishing fourth in the Individual Medley over the weekend, Michael Phelps managed to carve his way back to the headlines by scoring his 19th gold medal, the most of any Olympian before him.
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After winning the silver in the 200 butterfly, Michael, Ryan, Conor Dwyer and Ricky Berens took home the gold for the Men's 200 meter relay.
Michael swam the last leg of the race and joked to USA Today he warned the others to give him a "big lead."
"They gave it to me. So I just wanted to hold on," he said. "And I thanked them for being able to allow me to have this moment. It has been a pretty amazing career but we still have a couple of races left."
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As is always the case with swimming, wins and losses are often distinguished by less than a second. Michael lost the gold in the 200 butterfly by half a second, but won the gold for the same even in 2008 by edging out the opponent by .01.
