Day 8: Sun Yang wins second title, Phelps bids golden farewell

Story Hights

• Sun Yang broke his own world record to make it a golden double at London Olympics on Saturday.
• U.S. superstar Michael Phelps claimed his 18th Olympic gold medal - the 22nd medal of his career.
• The United States is locked in a tight battle with China in the race for No. 1 in the medals.

By Sportswriter Gao Peng

LONDON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese swimmer Sun Yang broke his own world record to make it a golden double at the London Olympics on Saturday, while U.S. superstar Michael Phelps drew the curtain on his magnificent career by claiming his 18th Olympic gold medal - the 22nd medal of his career.

As the Games reached its halfway mark, the United States is locked in a tight battle with China in the race for No. 1 in the medals. America is now on top with 54 medals, of which 26 are gold. China has 25 gold and 53 medals in total.

Sun won in a time of 14 minutes 31.02 seconds, eight and a half seconds ahead of his nearest rival and 3.12 seconds faster than the previous best he set in Shanghai last year. The 20-year old became China's first ever male Olympic swimming champion after winning the men's 400m freestyle last week.

"You don't understand how much I wanted this gold medal," said Sun, who beat the water in joy and broke down in tears after he saw his results from the screenboard. "I really, really wanted it, and today I made it."

But it was Phelps who stole the most limelight Saturday night at the Acquatics Center.

In his farewell Olympic race, Phelps swam his favorite butterfly leg to help the U.S. to gold in the 4x100m medley relay.

"I've been able to do everything that I wanted," said the 27-year-old Phelps, a four-time Olympian who has announced to retire after the London Games.

The Americans also won the women's 4x100m medley relay in world record time, underlining their depth of talent in the pool.