By Charles Whelan
BEIJING: US swimming sensation Michael Phelps said here yesterday he hoped to race for eight gold medals at next year's Beijing Olympics and out-do Mark Spitz's Games record of seven titles.
The US champion won seven golds in eight events and set five world records at the recent World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, and said that he was gunning for the same eight races in Beijing.
"In all honesty, I really would love to have the opportunity to try that same programme again next year," said Phelps. He said that would depend on the quality of his training performances over the next year.
"Being able to do that and be as successful as I was (in Melbourne), honestly I really would love the opportunity to try that again," he told journalists here. Spitz's seven gold-medal standard has stood since the 1972 Munich Olympics, but Phelps is challenging his mantle as the greatest swimmer of all-time.
In Melbourne Phelps, 21, won the 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 200m and 400m medleys and the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays. He set world records in the 200m butterfly (1:52.09), 200m freestyle (1:43.86), 200m medley (1:54.98), 400m medley (4:06.22) and as the lead-off swimmer in the 4x200m freestyle relay (7:03.24). He would have won an unprecedented eight golds, but his teammates botched a changeover in the medley relay heats and were disqualified while he was being rested from the anticipated final.
Phelps is visiting Beijing and Shanghai this week to promote the Special Olympics, which takes place in Shanghai in October. He is accompanied by fellow US Olympic and world champions Katie Hoff and Ryan Lochte, and Olympic champion Megan Jendrick.
Phelps said he was certain the US team would swim fast and win a lot of titles in Beijing. "You will be able to see a lot of fast times and a lot of medals won," he said.
"We can theoretically go one-two in a lot of events. We showed a lot of possibilities in Melbourne."
He said he had no problem with the controversial morning finals at the Beijing Olympics. The decision to stage finals in the morning to suit US TV prime time slots has upset some competitors but Phelps said it was not an issue."Everybody has to get ready for that and prepare for that," he said.
"If you can't step up and get excited for an event whether it is in the morning or the evening, then don't come." (AFP)