Michael Phelps reminisces over defeating Milorad Cavic by 1/100 of a second to win Olympic gold medal

Michael Phelps recently reminisced about his iconic victory over Serbia’s Milorad Cavic at the 2008 Olympics. The duo had faced off in the men's 100m butterfly and the American outdid Cavic by a hundredth of a second.

At the 2004 Olympics, Phelps rocked the sporting world when he won eight medals, six of which were gold. Four years later, at the Beijing Games, all eyes were on the swimmer to see if he could outdo Mark Spitz’s record of the most gold-medal finishes at a single Games. Phelps began his campaign at the 2008 Olympics by winning gold in the 400m IM, 4x100m free relay, 200m free, 200m fly, 4x200m free relay, and 200m IM.

Up next, he swam the 100m butterfly final, where he outdid Cavic by one hundredth of a second due to an extra ‘half-stroke’, equalling Mark Spitz's record of winning seven Olympic golds at a singular Games. Recently, Michael Phelps took to his Instagram story to re-share a post documenting this win, and wrote,

“Good half stroke. 🤷‍♂️”

Via @m_phelps00 on Instagram

After the 100m butterfly finals at the Beijing Olympics, Phelps won gold in the 4x100m medley relay, officially setting a new record for most gold medals won at a single Games.

When Michael Phelps detailed his victory over Milorad Cavic

Phelps at the Beijing Olympics (Image Source: Getty)

Michael Phelps’ victory over Milorad Cavic at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the source of some controversy. Immediately after the race, Serbian officials filed a protest against the results, but FINA upheld the American's victory after analysing frame shots of the race. However, the images were not immediately released to the public, leading to further speculation.

For his part, Phelps told CBS after the Games that he had initially misjudged the results, saying,

"I was like, 'Please get your hand to the wall first. Please get your hand to the wall first. I remember like the last two or three strokes that I had misjudged the finish. I thought that was the race.”

However, the American confirmed that he knew he had won once he touched the wall, explaining,

“As soon as I hit the wall, I saw I had won, I looked up, and saw it was by one one-hundredth. And you know that's where the emotion came out. You know, that's where the big splash in the water, like the big roar. I mean you could tell that I was pretty intense after that race."

After the Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps went on to win 12 more Olympic medals, nine of which were gold, making him the most decorated Olympian of all-time.