Michael Phelps and relay teammates relish their golden moment

By Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

BEIJING -- On any other night, a world-record swim by Italy's Federica Pellegrini in the heats of the 200-meter freestyle, an Olympic record by Michael Phelps in the heats of the men's 200 butterfly and Katie Hoff's continuation of a frustrating quest for gold would have been the main topic of conversation at the National Aquatics Center.

But the buzz late Monday still focused on the sizzling, world-record performance by the U.S. men's 400-meter relay earlier in the day, a moment Phelps couldn't help reliving.

Phelps was preparing for the first round of the 200 butterfly -- the third event on his ever-more-successful pursuit of a record eight gold medals -- when he looked up at a TV screen. There he was, celebrating with teammate Garrett Weber-Gale after Jason Lezak's stunning anchor-leg swim and letting loose a deep and forceful primal scream.

"I started laughing. They were showing a replay when I was stretching back in the warmup area, and I started cracking up," he said.

"My and Garrett's reaction, yeah, I let out a pretty fierce yell. It just shows how emotional it was and how excited we were. It was just an amazing race."

Michael Phelps and relay teammates relish their golden moment....