Michael Phelps Yeah, I Went Clubbing with My GOLD MEDALS!!

Michael Phelps took three of his closest friends out clubbing in London this weekend -- gold medal, gold medal and gold medal.

Just hours after swimming the last race of his career, Phelps -- the greatest Olympian in the history of the Olympics -- hit the party scene in Soho ... along with 3 of his 18 gold medals ... and a mystery blonde.

Phelps and his medals partied responsibly ... after they partied themselves out, they all piled into the backseat of a waiting SUV and got a ride home.

Go USA.

source: tmz.com

Phelps extends record breaking spree with first individual gold in London

(CNN) -- The records kept tumbling for Michael Phelps Thursday as he beat arch-rival Ryan Lochte to win the men's 200m individual medley.

It was the 16th gold medal of his remarkable Olympic career, but his first in an individual event at the London Games.

The 27-year-old from Baltimore becomes the first man to win gold in the same event at three consecutive Olympics and extends his record breaking overall medals tally to 20.

It came just 48 hours after he won his 18th and 19th Olympic medals to overtake Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina in the all-time list.

Phelps led from start to finish to hold off Lochte down the final freestyle leg to win in one minute 54.27 seconds, just 0.04secs outside his own Olympic record.

Hungary's Laszlo Cseh claimed the bronze medal.

Lochte had taken bronze behind fellow American Tyler Clary in the earlier final of the men's 200m backstroke and Phelps said his rival for gold would have been feeling that effort.

"That was cool, I knew Ryan (Lochte) would be tough but coming off the 200 back that was a hard double," he told BBC Sport.

Phelps, who revealed he had received a congratulatory phone call from U.S. President Barack Obama, has two more events to add to his tally before retiring from swimming.

He qualified for the final of the men's 100m butterfly later Thursday by winning his semifinal in 50.86 seconds and will be a member of the American medley relay squad.

Earlier, Rebecca Soni broke the women's 200m breaststroke world record for the second time in two days to win Olympic gold.

Soni won in two minutes 19.59 seconds, the first woman under the magic two minutes 20 second barrier.

Japan's Satomi Suzuki took silver and Russian Yuliyia Efimova earned bronze.

Ranomi Kromowidjojo broke the American dominance by claiming the women's 100m freestyle gold for the Netherlands.

She edged out Aliaksandra Herasimenia of the Belarus with Tang Yi of China taking bronze.

source: CNN

'Shattered' Thorpe vows to swim on

ADELAIDE — Ian Thorpe vowed to press on with his comeback despite his dream of swimming in the 200 metres freestyle at the London Olympics turning into a nightmare at Australia’s selection trials.

Five-time Olympic gold medallist Thorpe said he was “utterly gutted” after missing out on the 200m final at the trials Friday and with it forfeiting the chance to swim in the event he once dominated in London.

Thorpe’s hopes of competing at July’s Olympics now ride on the 100m freestyle, with the heats at the trials starting on Sunday.

Even if he cannot finish in the top two, he still has a chance of racing in the sprint relay in London by finishing in the top-six.

Thorpe, who launched his comeback after five years out of the sport, took some time to console himself after his 200m heartbreak before facing the media to express his profound disappointment with his performance.

He trailed in 12th fastest in the semifinals and his time of one minute 49.91 seconds was almost six seconds slower than his 2001 world record of 1:44.06 for the event. Thorpe broke the 200m world record six times in his stellar career.

But Thorpe said he would continue his comeback, starting with his daunting challenge in the 100m where he will be up against world champion James Magnussen, former world record holder Eamon Sullivan and the cream of Australia’s top sprinters.

“I intend to. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve been doing. I’ve enjoyed training again, I’ve enjoyed pushing myself in the pool and I’ll keep on swimming until I feel I cannot get any more out of myself,” Thorpe said after Friday’s setback.

“After tonight it would be a lot easier not to, but I have another race and I think I have another couple of preparations in me as well.

“I won’t keep training unless I think I can do that (return to elite level). That’s the thing that has motivated me and it is the only thing that will motivate me in the future.”

Thorpe must first overcome his bitter disappointment to set himself up for a shot at the top six in the hotly-contested 100m freestyle.

“You never know. Of the two races, this will be the tougher one to qualify for. That’s the way that it is,” he said.

“It’s not going to be easy, this whole thing was never going to be easy.”

Asked if his comeback had been worth the considerable effort, Thorpe said: “After feeling like that, the first thing is that it would have been a lot easier to have not even tried.

“I think it’s better to attempt something and fail than it is to not even attempt it, so I’m glad that I’ve been prepared to put myself on the line there.”

Australia head coach Leigh Nugent said Thorpe was an “enigma” and he felt for him.

“I feel for Ian. High performance has all sorts of risks to it. You’ve got to go with it and as he said it’s like a fairytale or a nightmare and last night Ian expressed it was a bit of a nightmare for him,” Nugent said at the pool on Saturday.

“Ian brings everything. He brought so much exposure, criticism, accolades, everything to Australian swimming.

“The guy is an enigma here and he’s like no one else in how people respond. The pool was packed last night and I haven’t seen that with anyone else here.”

source: japantoday.com