United States' gold medalist Michael Phelps has etched his name alongside the winningest Olympians with the ninth gold of an already brilliant career that shows no signs of slowing down. He'll only be making a brief stopover, saying hi to a group that includes Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis, then moving on.

Graphic shows the details of United States' Gold medalist Michael Phelps.

In this July 29, 1996 file photo, Carl Lewis of the United States takes his third jump during the men's long jump final at the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta. Lewis won the gold medal. In winning the 200-meter freestyle, Michael Phelps etched his name alongside the winningest Olympians with the ninth gold of an already brilliant career that shows no signs of slowing down. He'll only be making a brief stopover, saying hi to a group that includes Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis, then moving on. (AP)

Morocco's Hicham El Guerroujj flashes the number "two" sign after he crossed the finish line first for the gold in the men's 5000m final and became the first male athlete since Paavo Nurmi in 1924 to do the 1500 metres and 5,000 metres Olympic double, 28 August 2004, during the Olympic Games athletics competitions at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele took silver and Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge took the bronze. (AFP)

Ukrainian gymnast Larysa Latynina holds many important Olympic records, being the only athlete in any sport to have won eighteen career medals. She is one of only four athletes to have won nine gold medals. She is the only athlete to have won fourteen medals in individual events and she is one of only three women to have won the same Summer Olympics event three times. Phelps has now changed these statistics by becoming one of the winningest Olympians. (IOC)

In this Aug. 31, 1972, file photo, American swimmer Mark Spitz holds five of the seven gold medals he won at the Olympics in Munich, Germany (AP)