So finally, he got what he was waiting for.

In the final swim race of the 2008 Beijing Games on Sunday morning (Saturday night, U.S. time), in a moment of a lifetime, Michael Phelps veered into territory where the Olympics never had been before.

Just as he and his coach, Bob Bowman, had planned for years, Phelps surpassed Mark Spitz's epic performance in the 1972 Munich Olympics, winning his eighth gold medal, before a packed crowd of 17,000 in Beijing's bubble-shaped Water Cube.

It came in the 400-meter medley relay, with Phelps passing two swimmers on the butterfly leg to put his team in first, then cheering from the pool deck as Jason Lezak brought it home.

"The Beijing Olympics has witnessed the greatest Olympian of all time - Michael Phelps of the USA," the announcer said.

This wasn't the day for technical analysis, for assessing interval times and stroke technique and turns.

All those details seemed irrelevant.

Sunday was the day in Beijing for big pictures and big words, broad strokes and comparisons stretching for generations: Is Phelps the best Olympian ever, better than Carl Lewis, Pasov Nurmi, Jesse Owens?

Does he rank with Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Pele . . . ?

The numbers are daunting: In nine days, Phelps swam 3,300 meters in 17 races, counting preliminaries and finals, set seven world records and left with 14 gold medals from two Olympics - five more than anyone else.

If Phelps were his own country, he would have ranked fourth in gold and 15th in total medals when he finished.

"We'll never, ever see it again," Australian distance king Grant Hackett said of Phelps' performance.

Hackett hardly was alone in his awe. As Phelps' Olympic miracle crested, he swept everyone into his wake.

"In an era of such great swimmers, I think (watching Phelps' feat) has been my highlight," Australian Leisel Jones said after winning two golds and one silver in Beijing.

"I couldn't care less about my own swims."

There was so much to watch. There was the remarkable opening victory in the 400 individual medley, his weakest event; there was an equipment malfunction in the 200 butterfly, when his goggles were leaking so badly, he couldn't see the wall yet still set another world record.

There was the 4x100 freestyle relay, when Lezak saved his dream with a fantastic finish. There was the 100 butterfly, when Phelps out-touched Serbia's Milorad Cavic by the slimmest margin in swimming - .01 of a second.

And there was the race Sunday, with Phelps doing the heavy lifting himself.

"I literally wanted to do something that no one's ever done before in this sport," he said.

Stories about Phelps are assuming a mythological quality. The boy in the chlorine bubble. The flipperlike feet. Pterodactyl wingspan. Monster workouts.

But at one point Sunday, his eyes glazed over, as if he were back 12 years in time, in the awkward days, when bullies taunted him, classmates dissed him and attention deficit disorder made it difficult to read.

"You know, my mom and I still joke about a middle school English teacher who said I'd never be successful. . . . I'm lucky to have everything I have," Phelps said. "I'm lucky to have the talent I have, the drive that I have, the excitement about the sport.

"I'm fortunate for every quality I have. This sport has changed my life.

"With so many people saying it couldn't be done," he added about the record. "All it took was a little imagination. It's been such an unbelievable roller coaster. It's been such an unbelievable ride.

"All I want to do is go see my mom."

latimerc@RockyMountainNews.com