From his lofty perch of 23 Olympic titles and 28 medals, Michael Phelps is unique.

The swimmer dominated the Olympics like no other during his immense career, which reached its peak at the Beijing Games in 2008 when he turned a race that had been lost into a stunning victory, forever captured for eternity.

The American went to China with one goal: a clean sweep of eight gold medals to eclipse the old record of his compatriot Mark Spitz. And, boy, did he do it.

But it all came down to a tiny margin of 0.01 seconds, a mere half-flap of his butterfly wings.

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