<P> American swimmer Michael Phelps was the most successful athlete , winning eight gold medals and setting a new record for most golds won in a single edition of the Olympics ( the previous record , seven , had been set in 1972 by Mark Spitz ) . Phelps also set a new record for most career gold medals ( 14 ) , and his 16 total medals were ranked second all - time behind Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina ( 18 ) at the time . In 2012 Phelps set a record for most total medals . Several records for career medals in a sport were tied or surpassed , including cycling ( Bradley Wiggins of the United Kingdom won two gold , tied for record with six career medals ) ; judo ( Ryoko Tani of Japan won a bronze , five career medals ) ; softball ( Laura Berg of the United States won a gold and Natalie Ward , Melanie Roche and Tanya Harding of Australia won a bronze ; all have four career medals ) ; swimming ( Michael Phelps , 16 career medals ) ; taekwondo ( Steven López of the United States won a bronze and Hadi Saei of Iran won a gold , both three career medals ) ; and table tennis ( Wang Nan of China won a gold and silver medal , five career medals ) . </P>
<P> American swimmer Michael Phelps was the most successful athlete , winning eight gold medals and setting a new record for most golds won in a single edition of the Olympics ( the previous record , seven , had been set in 1972 by Mark Spitz ) . Phelps also set a new record for most career gold medals ( 14 ) , and his 16 total medals were ranked second all - time behind Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina ( 18 ) at the time . In 2012 Phelps set a record for most total medals . Several records for career medals in a sport were tied or surpassed , including cycling ( Bradley Wiggins of the United Kingdom won two gold , tied for record with six career medals ) ; judo ( Ryoko Tani of Japan won a bronze , five career medals ) ; softball ( Laura Berg of the United States won a gold and Natalie Ward , Melanie Roche and Tanya Harding of Australia won a bronze ; all have four career medals ) ; swimming ( Michael Phelps , 16 career medals ) ; taekwondo ( Steven López of the United States won a bronze and Hadi Saei of Iran won a gold , both three career medals ) ; and table tennis ( Wang Nan of China won a gold and silver medal , five career medals ) . </P>
who made history by winning 8 gold medals in the beijing olympics in one event
who made history by winning 8 gold medals in the beijing olympics in one event
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps