Cheering from the pool deck, Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games on Sunday to become the grandest of Olympic champions.
Jason Lezak held on to the lead Phelps gave him, anchoring the United States to a world record in the 400-meter medley relay against an Australian team that did its best to spoil history.
But Phelps, with a big hand from three teammates, would not be denied. He eclipsed Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games, an iconic performance that was surpassed by a swimmer fitting of this generation: a 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves hip-hop music and texting with his buddies.
Even though the Americans have never lost the medley relay at the Olympics, the latest gold was hardly a breeze. When Phelps dove into the water for the butterfly - the third of four legs - the Americans were third behind Japan and Australia.
But Phelps, swimming the same distance and stroke that he used to win his seventh gold a day earlier, powered back to the front on his return lap, passing off to Lezak with the Americans in front.
Australia's Eamon Sullivan tried to chase Lezak down and appeared to be gaining as they came to the wall. But Lezak touched in 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds - Phelps' seventh world record in his personal Great Haul of China.
The Aussies took silver in 3:30.04, also under the old world record, while Japan held on for the bronze.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BEIJING (AP) - Dara Torres lost an improbable gold medal Sunday morning by one-hundredth of a second - the same margin that kept Michael Phelps on course to break Mark Spitz's record.
The 41-year-old Torres, a five-time Olympian and the oldest American swimmer ever, settled for two more silver medals on the final day of swimming at the Water Cube.
She had three runner-up finishes in all, but was oh-so-close to a gold in the 50-meter freestyle.
Germany's Britta Steffen nipped Torres at the wall to complete a sweep of the women's sprint events in Beijing. The middle-aged American smiled, her head dropping back, when she saw a time of 24.07 seconds - just behind Steffen's winning effort of 24.06. The German added to her gold in the 100 free.
Torres received her silver, then hustled back to the locker room to grab her cap and goggles. She anchored the U.S. to a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay, unable to catch Libby Trickett on a frantic sprint to the wall.
Still, not bad considering she had retired a second time after the 2000 Sydney Games, then got the urge to compete again after having her first child two years ago. Not content swimming in the old-timers' division, she set out to prove that age is only a number.
Consider that point made.
Torres got off to a good start in the 50 and appeared to be leading midway through the race, a frenetic sprint from one end of the pool to the other.
As they came to the wall, Torres and Steffen were stroke for stroke. The German reached out with her left hand and Torres stretched with her right. Steffen's fingertip got there first.
Completing a race for all ages, 16-year-old Australian Cate Campbell claimed the bronze in 24.17.
In the relay, Torres claimed the 12th - and surely last - medal of her career.
Then again, never count this woman out. She'll only be 45 for the London Games.
Australia's women - Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jess Schipper and Libby Trickett - took the gold with a world record of 3:52.69. The Americans claimed silver with the second-fastest time in history, 3:53.30, while China took the bronze.
Torres was joined on the U.S. team by Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni and Christine Magnuson. Coughlin received her sixth medal of the games, giving her 11 in her career.
The last race in Beijing was the men's medley relay, with Phelps going for his record eight gold medal of the games in an event the Americans have never lost at the Olympics.
On Saturday, Phelps tied Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals with a heart-stopping win in the 100 butterfly, beating Serbia's Milorad Cavic by a hundredth of a second.
Grant Hackett fell short in his bid to become the first man to win the same event at three straight Olympics.
Australia's distance king was upset in the 1,500 freestyle by Ous Mellouli, who won Tunisia's first Olympic swimming gold in 14 minutes, 40.84 seconds.
Mellouli held off Hackett in the closing meters of the grueling race, swimming's version of the mile. Hackett earned the silver in 14:41.53, well off his 7-year-old world record of 14:34.56.
Ryan Cochrane of Canada took the bronze in 14:42.69.
Mellouli, who trains in Southern California, was coming off a suspension after testing positive for amphetamines.
