Phelps flies for fifth gold medal Most decorated gold medal winner in Olympic history By Rob Longley, SUN MEDIA

BEIJING - There may be some drama yet in the magical medal tour of that high-speed human watercraft known as Michael Phelps.

But it wasn’t about to come Wednesday morning in the Water Cube, the handsome pool they may as well light up in red, white and blue every time the American superstar races.

In a little more than an hour, Phelps had added two gold medals to his collection, bringing the total to five at these Games. And they couldn’t have come any easier than this pair.

If there was a sure thing in any of Phelps’ eight shots at gold, it was in the 200-metre butterfly, the event that first propelled him onto the world stage and the one he has dominated ever since.

Phelps certainly didn’t disappoint the morning crowd of 17,000 at the Olympic pool here, his head bobbing up and down in rhythm to the cheering throng and reaching the wall first in a blistering time of 1:52.03 for yet another world record.

After catching his breath and climbing onto the podium after medal No. 4, Phelps joined the American team for its dominating victory in the 4x200-metre relay, a Secretariat-like effort that had the winners open lengths in front of the field.

The winning time of 6:58.56, knocking almost five seconds off their own world record and seven seconds ahead of the silver-medallist Russian team. The bronze went to Australia while Canada was well back in fifth in a time of 7:05.77

With the latest golden moments, Phelps officially became the most decorated gold medal winner in Olympic history.

Added to the six gold he won in Athens, the 23-year-old now has 11, breaking himself away from the pack of four with nine gold, which included Americans Carl Lewis (track) and Mark Spitz (swimming.)

“The Olympics have been around for a long time, it’s definitely an honour,” said Phelps, who shaved .06 off the 200 butterfly record.

Though he was pushed through the first 100-metre of the race, Phelps was able to distance himself late and finish .67 in front of Hungary’s Cseh Laszio. Takeshi Madsuda of Japan won the bronze.

The world first took notice of Phelps when as a 15-year-old he finished fifth in the 200 butterfly at the Sydney Olympics.

Within months, he had claimed the world record, a mark he has broken seven times since, including Wednesday morning. Phelps has since become the most versatile swimmer in the history of the sport, but it was the butterfly that started the roll.

Television ratings have been through the roof for NBC network every time Phelps races, a trend that is surely to increase as he draws nearer to Spitz’s single Games record of eight gold.

And the more he wins, the more those swimming with him are against him are in awe, most taking the time to soak up the history of the moment(s).

“It might be once in a century when you’ll see something like this,” Phelps American teammate Aaron Peirsol said earlier this week.

“The way he’s attacking this meet, he’s not just winning, he’s absolutely destroying everything. It’s awesome to watch.”.