– Michael Phelps

WITH Michael Phelps it is often hard to believe what you see. So astounding are his feats, so compelling his collection of records. That was never more true than in the 100m butterfly final yesterday. Looking at the giant screens above the pool in the Beijing Water Cube, it looked like the dream of eclipsing Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in a single Olympics was over – Serbia's Milorad Cavic had edged him out.

But then the scoreboard flashed up the results. Phelps was first. By one hundredth of a second – the smallest gap allowable in swimming. Any less and it would have been a dead heat.

There was a collective gasp. People looked around for verification. Had their eyes deceived them? A holler bellowed from Phelps mouth. Apparently so. "I had to take my goggles off to make sure the one was next to my name. I saw the 50.58 and the 50.59 but the one was beside my name and that's when I sort of let my roar out," said the 23-year-old, who this morning was set to compete in the relay in a bid to better Spitz's 36-year-old record.

He predicted a very close contest. It could be no closer than yesterday's. As the Americans celebrated, the Serbians launched an official protest. Few believed they would be successful, though. This was too momentous an achievement to have it all screwed up by some dodgy technology. Even Cavic said that if it was up to him he would drop the appeal. On the face of it gracious and magnanimous, saying he had only expected bronze at best anyway. But he added that he thought people would still be debating the accuracy of the result in years to come, with many believing him the rightful winner. Did he think he was, he was asked. "If we did it again, I think I'd win," he answered diplomatically.

In the end, swimming's ruling body FINA upheld the result. As well as verifying that the back-up timer (one runs on cable, the other on batteries] had clocked the same times, race referee Ben Ekumbo said he'd had the television pictures slowed down. "I reviewed the video footage and it was clear, the Serbian swimmer touched second, behind Mr Phelps," he announced.

Deviating from normal procedure in an attempt to avoid controversy overshadowing what was one of the biggest moments in the sport's history, the governing body said it had also afforded the Serbs the opportunity to view the pictures themselves. They opted to take the matter no further.

Phelps was blissfully unaware that there had been a chance his gold could have turned to silver. As he had stepped onto the podium he bit his bottom lip to prevent a quiver. Earlier in the week he had shed tears, now as his personal campaign neared its denouement – Spitz's record equalled and only one race remaining – he held the emotions in check. It was his sisters, in the crowd, along with their mum, who let the rivulets flow.

They are the ones who had been watching helplessly, fearing that the affable and admirable American's fairytale would not have its happy ending. It was only afterwards that Phelps got a taste of it himself. "I watched the pictures, slowed down frame by frame, in the massage area and it was almost too close to see," he confessed. "But I did it. It's the smallest margin of victory in our sport but I did it and it's pretty cool."

From the start Phelps was down on his rival, who was the only man to have qualified faster than him, and while – as is almost trademark now – he made up some time on the turn, he was still chasing. All the way to the final centimetres. "I chopped the last stroke (putting in a half stroke] and I thought it had cost me the race but it was the opposite. If I had glided in I would have lost. I'm glad it went in my favour.

"It just shows that no matter what you set your imagination to, anything can happen. People said it wasn't possible to equal Spitz's record but when people say things like that it fires me up more than anything. Dream as big as you can because nothing is impossible and it has finally happened."

About to return home to the kind of money and perks he could only dream of, he laughed when asked if he had thought about that. "If I was in it for the money I wouldn't have been doing this sport," he laughed, aware of how far down the American sporting pecking order swimming features.

But that is changing slightly. Despite some whispers back home from a nation wary after hailing multiple-medal heroes such as Marion Jones in the past (Jones, after all, is a drugs cheat who is watching these Games in a US jail and in disgrace), it's unlikely any of their sportspeople have ever been the focus of so much coverage worldwide.

Talk about that and Phelps does smile. That's the currency he had been hoping to deal in. His mission is to raise the sport's profile and offer a role model to entice a new generation into the sport.

"I heard that they showed the race live on the jumbo screens in the middle of a baseball game so it looks like my goal is starting to happen," he said with a huge grin. "I will now have to think of some more goals in the next four years," he added playfully.

It's almost sacrilege to mention it but he did fall short on one count, though. Having managed a world-best time to accompany the flawless first six medals, he had to settle for an Olympic record yesterday.

It was Spitz who said before his final race in 1972: "I know I say I don't want to swim before every event but this time I'm serious. If I swim six and win six, I'll be a hero. If I swim seven and win six, I'll be a failure."

The real winners set themselves those challenges and recognise the consequences but thrive under the pressure. That's why Phelps is up there alongside a guy who was setting records more than a decade before he was even born. Even if he did leave it late.

DID THE TECHNOLOGY LIE?

1 Milorad Cavic: "I knew I'd be leading because I have a fast first 50, but Phelps is a back-end swimmer so I knew he'd be chasing me. There was no point even looking over. I knew he was coming."

2 Michael Phelps: "When I did chop the last stroke, I thought it might cost me the race. It happened to be the opposite. I was starting to hurt a little bit the last 10 metres. That was my last individual race, so I was just trying to finish as strong as I could. I wanted to take a short, fast stroke to get my angle off first.''

3 Milorad Cavic: "Technology isn't perfect. The hand is quicker than the eye. Too bad we didn't both finish at 50.58. I would have loved to share that gold medal.''

Michael Phelps: "The timing system says it all. There hasn't been an error in timing system I've ever heard of. The only thing I can say is, I raced as hard as I could and swam my best, and the scoreboard said I got my hand on the wall first.''

4 Branislav Jevtic (Serbia's chief of mission for sports): "They examined the video and I think the case is closed. The video says (Phelps] finished first. In my opinion, it's not right, but we must follow the rules. Everybody saw what happened."

Milorad Cavic: "I don't want to fight this. People will be talking about this for years, coming up to me and saying 'You won that race.' Is Michael Phelps the gold medallist in the 100 fly? I'd just say this: if we raced again, I think I'd win it."

Michael Phelps: "It's almost too close to see. One one-hundredth is the smallest margin of victory in our sport, and it's pretty cool. I guess that's all I can say."