Michael Phelps: Introducing The World’s New #1 Celebrity

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2008 Beijing Olympics,Michael Phelps,Dara Torres,Athletes

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Michael Phelps celebrates his eighth gold
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Michael Phelps swims to his 8th Gold in Beijing
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Michael Phelps, fresh off his record-breaking gold medal win, speaks to Billy Bush
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Michael Phelps wins his seventh gold, tying Mark Spitz’s record

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FIRST PUBLISHED: August 17, 2008 12:03 AM EDT
LAST UPDATED: August 17, 2008 4:22 AM EDT

By Jeremy Blacklow

BEIJING, China --

Michael Phelps is the biggest celebrity in the world right now, after going 8 for 8 in ‘08 — winning a record 8 gold medals in swimming for the U.S. at the Beijing Olympic Games.

“This is everything I’ve ever wanted to do, and everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Phelps told NBC’s Bob Costas in an interview at the Water Cube following his race. “I’ve had the best week of my life.”

Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak swam with a world-record time of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, besting the old standard of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.

The U.S. swept the men’s relays in Beijing. Again today, Lezak anchored the race for Phelps.

After the race, Lezak told NBC that the celebrities in the crowd today were in an inspiration.

“I looked up and I saw Kobe and LeBron, the best basketball players in the world,” he said. “No way we were going to let those guys down,” he said.

Australia took the silver in 3:30.04. Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18.

In a true pop culture analogy, Costas pointed out to Phelps the high measure of his current popularity. “On Facebook, (based on number of friend invites) you’ve gone past Justin Timberlake, you’ve gone past Miley Cyrus, you’ve gone past the Jonas Brothers — you’ve gone past everyone,” Costas reminded Phelps.

41-year-old mom Dara Torres brought home two silvers this morning: for the 50m free, and the 4x100m medley. She lost the 50m free to Britta Steffen of Germany by .01 of a second.

Today, history truly has been rewritten.

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