From Deseret News archives:
Phelps legacy will not soon be forgotten
Olympian savors his memories, friendships
"There are moments I'll never forget," he said.
Neither will the whole world.
Phelps took down the grandest of Olympic records Sunday in the final event at the pool, helping the Americans rally for a world-record win in the 400-meter medley relay. That victory, one more than Mark Spitz managed at the 1972 Munich Games, assured him a place in sports history and a legacy of, well, does he even need one?
Wait, there's more. In his pursuit of Spitz, which actually began four years ago with six gold medals in Athens, Phelps became the winningest Olympian ever with 14 victories, five more than any other athlete.
Even though the Americans have never lost the medley relay at the Olympics, the latest gold was hardly a breeze. When Phelps dived into the water for the butterfly the third of four legs the Americans were third behind Japan and Australia.
Afterward, Phelps gathered his three mates in a group huddle, then hugged each one of them separately. He thanked them for their role in the last of his three relay wins. They congratulated him for his remarkable feat.
"It was cool," backstroker Aaron Peirsol said. "We got to be a part of it."
Another member of the relay team, breaststroker Brendan Hansen, was most impressed by the way Phelps detached himself from all the hype once he got away from the pool. He'd set a world record in the morning, then go back to the village and act like nothing had happened.
"I'd be like, 'Do you realize what you're doing?"' Hansen said. "And he'd be like, 'Man, the pizza is good today."'
But deep down, Phelps was soaking it all in the glory and the minutiae. He had all the medals hanging in his room. By the end of the games, Hansen quipped, they resembled a wind chime.
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