BEIJING — Michael Phelps locked arms with his three teammates, as though they were in a football huddle calling a play, then hugged each one of them.

It took a team to make him the grandest of Olympic champions. And one last big push from Phelps himself.

Going hard right to the end of a mesmerizing nine days in Beijing, Phelps helped the Americans come from behind today in a race they've never lost at the Olympics, cheering from the deck as Jason Lezak brought it home for a world record in the 400-meter medley relay. It was Phelps' history-making eighth gold medal of these Games.

"Everything was accomplished," he said. "I will have the medals forever."

Phelps sure did his part to win No. 8, eclipsing Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games.

Aaron Peirsol got the Americans off to the lead in the backstroke, but Brendan Hansen — a major disappointment in this Olympic year — slowed them down with only the third-fastest breaststroke leg.

By the time Phelps dived in for the butterfly, the U.S. was trailing Australia and Japan.

That's when he really went to work.

With his long arms whirling across the water like propellers, Phelps caught the two guys ahead of him on the return lap and passed off to Lezak a lead of less than a second for the freestyle. The Australians countered with former world record-holder Eamon Sullivan as their anchor.

"I was thinking not to blow the lead," Lezak said. "I was really nervous."

Sullivan tried to chase down Lezak and appeared to be gaining as they came to the wall, but Lezak finished in 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds — Phelps' seventh world record in his personal Great Haul of China.

The Aussies took silver in 3:30.04, also under the old world record of 3:30.68 set by the U.S. in Athens four years ago, while Japan held on for the bronze.

Phelps leaned over the blocks, looking to make sure Lezak touched first.

Assured the Americans had won, he thrust both index fingers in the air, pumped his right arm and let out a scream. Peirsol also yelled and slapped Phelps in the chest.

Spitz's iconic performance was surpassed by a swimmer fitting of this generation: a 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves hip-hop music, texting with his buddies and wearing his cap backward.

"I don't even know what to feel right now," Phelps said. "There's so much emotion going through my head and so much excitement. I kind of just want to see my mom."

Debbie Phelps was sitting in the stands at the Water Cube, tears streaming down her cheeks, her two daughters by her side. After getting his gold, Phelps quickly found his family, climbing through a horde of photographers to give all three a kiss.

Mom put her arm around his neck and gave him a little extra hug.

Her son sure earned it.

"The Beijing Olympics has witnessed the greatest Olympian of all time — Michael Phelps of the USA," the announcer said as Phelps posed with his teammates.

The Americans still had to wait a couple of tantalizing minutes for the official results to be posted. Finally, it flashed on the board.

World record.

Gold medal No. 8.

"Nothing is impossible," Phelps said. "With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination, and that's something I learned and something that helped me."

Phelps, who won three relays in Beijing along with five individual races, gave a shout-out to all his teammates for helping him take down Spitz.

"Without the help of my teammates this isn't possible," he said. "I was able to be a part of three relays and we were able to put up a solid team effort and we came together as one unit."

Phelps set seven world records and one Olympic record, doing a personal best time in every event.

Back in Baltimore, some 10,000 fans hung around after an NFL preseason game to watch the relay on the stadium's big screen.

"I think he's going to be a legend forever," Ravens fan Ann Williams said.

GREEK HURDLER LATEST TO FAIL DOPING TEST

Associated Press

BEIJING — Reigning women's 400-meter hurdles champion Fani Halkia of Greece will not defend her Olympic title in Beijing after becoming the latest Greek athlete to fail a doping test.

The International Olympic Committee confirmed today that Halkia tested positive for a steroid at a Greek athletics team training camp in Japan before coming to Beijing.

Halkia is the fourth athlete to test positive during the IOC's Beijing anti-doping program.

Greek Olympic officials said she had withdrawn from the games and was flying home today.

North Korean shooter Kim Jong Su was stripped of his silver and bronze medals after testing positive for a banned betablocker, Spanish cyclist Isabel Moreno was expelled after testing positive for EPO in a pre-competition check, and Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do was caught using a prohibited diuretic.