by sportswriter Gao Peng
BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Michael Phelps has become the most successful athlete ever after collecting his 10th and 11th Olympic gold medal on Wednesday as world record-breaking performances were seen in swimming and weightlifing at the
Beijing Games.
At the end of Day Five, China has reached 17 gold medals, a mark which took more than a week in Athens four years ago, after picking up one in diving, weightlifting, shooting and gymnastics apiece.
The United States stays in second spot in the medals table with 10 golds, followed by South Korea with six golds.
Phelps claimed his 10th gold in the men's 200m butterfly, then added his 11th when the U.S. quartet stormed to a runaway victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay in 6:58.56, chopping more than four seconds off their own world record of 7:03.24.
That put the 23-year-old American two clear of Mark Spitz, American track and field star Carl Lewis, former Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi for the most gold medals won in Olympic history.
"Growing up I always wanted to be an Olympian," Phelps said. "Now to be the most decorated Olympian of all time, I have nothing to say.
"I kept thinking, 'Wow, greatest Olympian of all time.' It's a pretty cool title. I'm definitely honored."
Phelps now has won five gold medals in
Beijing and is more than halfway towards breaking Spitz's record of seven Olympic gold medals in one Games.
In between Phelps' victories, Australia's Stephanie Rice bettered her own world record with a time of 2:08.45 in the women's 200m individual medley to grab the gold.
Also at the Water Cube, Federica Pellegrini became the first Italian woman to win Olympic swimming gold with a world record-breaking triumph in the 200m freestyle final. She shaved 0.63 seconds off the previous mark she set in Monday's heats with a time of 1:54.82.
In the 100m freestyle semifinals, world record was broken twice by Eamon Sullivan of Australia and Alain Bernard of France. Bernard regained the record he lost two days by clocking 47.20 in the first heat, but Sullivan won the second heat in 47.05.
Chinese strongwoman Liu Chunhong successfully retained her Olympic weightlifting title in an astonishing world record-breaking spree.
Liu hoisted 128kg in snatch and 158kg in clean and jerk for a total of 286kg, all three being new world records in the women's 69kg category.
"I think no one will reach those (records) in the next one to two years, and when someone does I will create more new records," said Liu.
But China's domination in weightlifting was halted by South Korean Sa Jaeh Youk, who pipped Li Hongli of China to win the men's 77kg title. Sa and Li were tied for a total lift of 366kg, but the former won by virtue of lower body weight.
Chinese weightlifters now won six gold medals out of a possible seven.
In gymnastics, China won the women's team Olympic title for the first time, upstaging 2004 champion Romania and an injury-hit U.S. team. The six-woman team of Cheng Fei, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Li Shanshan, Yang Yilin and Deng Linlin amassed a total of 188.900 points.
"This is the most important gold medal," said Chinese head coach Lu Shanzhen.
