Perfect 10: Phelps Wraps Up Title of Best Ever With 10th Gold

With a win in the 200 meter butterfly Tuesday night, Michael Phelps became the winningest Olympian of all time. No one had ever won 10 gold medals in their career--Phelps has done it and he's still only 23 years old.

It's a sign of how dominant Phelps is that setting the career mark for gold medals is only a sidelight in his quest for eight golds in this year's Olympics (which would break Michael Spitz' record for a single games). Heck, halfway through his Olympics program, even eight golds may not be his ultimate goal. As Time magazine pointed out today, the U.S. 4X100 meter freestyle's improbable win means that Phelps also has a chance to win eight golds while setting eight world records.

Of course, Phelps won't admit to it. But if you're as gifted as he is in the water, and you shrug off world records as easily as a coat, no mere clocks will keep you feeling challenged - you need something to motivate you. Setting eight new marks in a single meet might do it.

For Phelps to do that, he'll need some help from his U.S. teammates--he still has the 4X100 meter medley relay to go in addition to the 200 meter IM and the 100 meter butterfly.

Phelps also tied the record for most medals in one Olympics in 2004. He'll still be young enough to be dominant in the 2012 Olympics, but the only question is whether he'll have the motivation to do it. But motivation has never been a problem for him, which means 15 golds doesn't seem impossible, and 20 seems like an amazing potential goal.