Fans of Michael Phelps react to his record eighth gold medal

(17 Aug 2008) 1. Wide exterior of ESPN Zone restaurant 2. Man sitting in big chair with sleeping girl on lap 3. Pan of crowd 4. Pull out from close-up of woman watching race 5. Various of crowd celebrating 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Alex Merritt, Baltimore local and Phelps fan: "It's definitely the Baltimore thing, there is no other explanation for it. This is definitely a blue-collar city; you know, we like hard work, and that right there just showed hard work. Although it was for the country of the United States, but it's still our home town. It's for us." 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Aaron Forgy, Phelps fan: "Well I grew up swimming, so to watch someone do something as impressive as this is awesome, you know, especially for our country, too. It unites us all. It's awesome." 8. Wide of women at bar 9. SOUNDBITE: (English) No name given, Phelps fan: "I think it's amazing that we just witnessed history. Eight gold medals is unbelievable for Michael Phelps. It's exciting to be a part of all this Olympics this summer, and it's really exciting." 10. People at table at bar STORYLINE: Fans gathered in the hometown of US swimmer Michael Phelps on Sunday to watch their idol win his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games to become the most successful of Olympic champions in history. Phelps helped the United States to a world record in the 400-metre medley relay against an Australian team that did its best to spoil history. But Phelps, with a big hand from three team mates, would not be denied. Phelps eclipsed Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games, an iconic performance that was surpassed by a swimmer fitting of this generation: a 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves hip-hop music, texting with his friends and wearing his cap backward. In Phelps's home town of Baltimore, Maryland, fans watched anxiously as the medley relay took place but cheered and jumped for joy when the US team took it out. One fan, Alex Merritt, said it was a special time for Baltimore. "This is definitely a blue-collar city; you know, we like hard work, and that right there just showed hard work," he said. "Although it was for the country of the United States, but it's still our home town. It's for us," Merritt added. Aaron Forgy is a Phelps fan and a swimmer himself. "To watch someone do something as impressive as this is awesome, you know, especially for our country, too. It unites us all." When Phelps dived into the water for the butterfly - the third of four legs - the Americans were third behind Japan and Australia. But Phelps, swimming the same distance and stroke that he used to win his seventh gold a day earlier, powered to the front on his return lap, passing off to Lezak with the Americans in front. Phelps won five individual races and three relays in Beijing. He set seven world records and one Olympic record, doing a personal best time in every event. Phelps won some races by large margins, others with the closest of finishes - most memorably, his seventh gold by one-hundredth of a second over Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100 fly. Along the way, he became the most successful Olympian ever, leaving China with 14 career golds - five more than anyone else with at least one more Olympics to go. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...