Mark Spitz, the man who held the record for most individual Olympic gold medals at a single competition before Michael Phelps in 2008, has called into question Phelps’ record during a press tour in China.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Express Sports UK during a press tour that is part of the Laureus World Sports Awards in Shanghai, China, Spitz allegedly said:<\/p>\n
“I was sent an email posted by Omega that said he had lost the race. If they were the official time keeper why wasn’t that available moments after the race? I don’t believe he won the race but he’s still the greatest swimmer in the world, with or without that medal.”<\/p>\n
Spitz allegedly continued to make statements questioning whether he could have had a greater career than Phelps under different circumstances.<\/p>\n
“Statistically he’s the greatest Olympian of all time. He was in twice as many Olympics as I was – he was in four and I was in two. He has 18 gold medals and I have nine. He has two silvers, I have one. He has two bronzes, I have one. So he has doubled everything I did. In his first Olympics he didn’t get a medal at all, which means he’s done it in three Games.”<\/p>\n
Spitz originally set the record with seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics before Phelps broke it with eight victories at the 2008 Beijing Games. \u00a0The 100-meter fly victory has always been the conversation of conspiracy theorists that Milorad Cavic won even though the Omega timing system recorded Phelps winning 50.58 to 50.59. That was Phelps’ seventh gold, which tied him with Spitz before\u00a0the 400-meter medley relay delivered the eighth gold.<\/p>\n
The swim was so close that some believe that Cavic may have “touched” first, but that Phelps was the one that had the most force to actually trigger the touchpad device first.<\/p>\n
However, having someone of Spitz’s cache go public to doubt the win casts a different light on what remains one of the most iconic moments in sports history.<\/p>\n
At Swimming World<\/em>‘s request, Spitz’s agent Evan Morgenstein is currently checking on the validity of the quote with his client. However, due to the time difference in China, the confirmation may take some time. Swimming World is also requesting comment from representatives at USA Swimming and Omega.<\/p>\n Back in 2009, Omega General Manager Christophe Bertaud said in a video interview that Cavic did indeed touch the wall first, but did not indicate that meant Cavic was the winner. He goes on to say that Phelps’ force on the touchpad was the key to stopping the clock one hundredth of a second faster.<\/p>\n