Swimmer Michael Phelps had the world talking, including on Twitter, after his historic 19th Olympic medal win at the London 2012 Olympics. The latest medal officially makes Phelps the most decorated Olympian ever, succeeding Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina's record of 18 medals.
Phelps won his overall 19th medal - his 15th gold medal - in the 4x200-meter Freestyle Relay with fellow Team USA swimmers Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, and Ricky Berens. The relay featured an unorthodox move to have Phelps anchor the relay, meaning swim fourth in the rotation.
The victory earned a celebratory tweet from President Barack Obama, "Congrats to Michael Phelps for breaking the all-time Olympic medal record," Obama tweeted. "You've made your country proud. -bo"
Phelps tweeted back, "Thank you Mr. President!! It's an honor representing the #USA !! The best country in the world!!"
Phelps' win will probably give him a bigger Twitter following as he has about 668,000, compared to Obama's 18 million followers.
"I started scrolling through thousands of mentions [on Twitter], and I was like, man, this is a lot of things to look at," said Phelps. "Obviously, I wanted to say thank you to all of my friends. Obama, [Spanish footballer Gerard] Pique the soccer player, a bunch of athletes, figures from all over the world that were sending things. It was pretty cool."
The new record of 19 Olympic medals breaks the 48-year-old record set by Latynina, who shared no hard feelings upon news that Phelps will overcome her milestone.
"I'm quite happy there is a man in the world who can overcome my record, finally," said Latynina.However, Latynina told Yahoo, "Do I think I am still the greatest Olympian? Why yes, but that is my opinion. Why do I think this? Well, I did not only compete in three Olympic Games and won many medals, but the Soviet Union team had very great success when I was the coach."
Debbie Phelps (3rd R), mother of Michael Phelps of the U.S., celebrates the U.S. men's 4x200m freestyle relay win and her son's 19th Olympic medal, during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre (Photo Credit: Reuters)
Phelps has three more Olympic medal opportunities, and can extend the new record to 22 if successful. Earlier today, Phelps won the 200-meter Individual Medley qualifying round and will compete in its semifinal at 3:43 p.m. EST today, along with rival Lochte. The 200-meter Individual Medley's final is tomorrow, Aug. 2, at 3:19 p.m. EST.
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