No need to say thanks, team mates tell Phelps

By Alan Baldwin

BEIJING (Reuters) - Even if Michael Phelps owed a debt to his 4x100 freestyle relay team mates for keeping him on course for a record eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing, no thanks were offered or sought.

"It is not needed," said second leg man Garrett Weber-Gale after the Americans powered to an astonishing record-breaking victory over France on Monday to hand Phelps his second gold with six still to be won.

"This is just a team effort, we all came out here to do one thing, to win the gold medal and we did that together."

The relay saw Phelps at his most vulnerable, with the American winning seven gold medals at the last world championships but missing out on an eighth after the U.S. team were disqualified in a medley.

It looked like the quest was all over when Jason Lezak started the final leg with former French 100 freestyle world record holder Alain Bernard streaking away in the lead.

Amazingly, Lezak closed the distance to secure a nail-bitingly close race by a margin of just 0.08 seconds.

The U.S. blitzed the previous world record by almost four seconds, clocking 3:08.24 to eclipse the 3:12.23 set by a second-string U.S. lineup in the heats.

Asked whether he might be looking for a share of the $1 million bonus offered to Phelps if he can equal compatriot Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven golds at a single Games, the Californian shook his head.

"I think Michael knows we didn't do this for him," he told a news conference.

"He was just a part of it and we were a part of it.

"Whether he wins eight gold medals or not, it wasn't going to be our responsibility for that to happen."

Lezak was the hero of the moment but it was not as if Phelps did not also play a major role.

The 23-year-old swum the opening leg in an equally eye-popping 47.51 seconds, making him the third fastest man in the history of an event that he has not even entered at the Games.

It was only 0.01 outside the world record held by Bernard until Australia's Eamon Sullivan led off with Phelps and reduced the mark to 47.24.

Phelps might have said a million thank yous when Lezak touched the wall, but they would have been lost in the shouting.