Phelps gets eight, Jamaica sprint queens rule

By Simon Denyer

BEIJING (Reuters) - Michael Phelps held his arms aloft on Sunday after surpassing Mark Spitz as the most successful swimmer and Olympian of all time, relief written on his face after he won an unprecedented eighth gold at one Games.

Afterwards, he said he just wanted to hug his mum.

There was more sprint delight for Jamaica, with a clean sweep of the medals in the women's 100 meters to go with compatriot Usain Bolt's dazzling world record display in the men's race.

Shelly-Ann Fraser grinned and punched the air as she crossed the finish line then leapt and danced for joy.

The U.S. team lodged an appeal over the race, saying their sprinters believed there had been a false start, but it was rejected by athletics' governing body.

Africa had a good day with Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele triumphing in the men's 10,000 meters and Cameroon's Francoise Mbango Etone winning gold in the women's triple jump.

Despite Phelps' heroics, the U.S. team have all but lost the battle with China to top the medals table.

With wins on Sunday in badminton, diving, gymnastics, rowing, shooting, table tennis and wrestling, the hosts reached 35 golds to the Americans' 19, already three ahead of their Athens haul with seven days of competition to go.

In 2004, the United States topped the table with 36 golds.

Nobody doubted it was Phelps's day, though.

The swimmer hugged his team mates after a world record-breaking 4x100 meters medley relay win, a relatively comfortable race compared to two finger-tip finishes.

The win gave him his eighth gold at these Games, one more than Spitz in 1972, and his 14th in all, five more than anyone in the Olympics' 112-year history.

SCREAMING FIT

The 23-year-old, who as a child in Baltimore had a screaming fit at his first swimming lesson because he did not want to get his face wet, showed that he was human after all.

"The first thing I'd like to do to my mum is just hug her, said Phelps, whose parents separated when he was young. "I've literally seen her for about 30 seconds this whole time."