Freaking fantastic finale, Michael Phelps!
On Saturday evening, the 27-year-old swimming legend won his 18th gold medal and his 22nd overall in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay in London — his very last race ever in his Olympics career.
Phelps swam the butterfly leg of the event with teammates Matt Grevers (backstroke), Brendan Hansen (breaststroke) and Nathan Adrian (freestyle) — with the quartet clocking in first at 3:29.35, besting Japan (silver) and Australia (bronze).
As it turns out, the medley relay is a swimming event the USA has completely dominated since it debuted at the Olympics in 1960.
Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete earlier last Tuesday when he won his 19th medal overall — besting a record previously set by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina. He received a Tweet and congratulatory call from none other than President Barack Obama, who called him "the greatest Olympian ever."
What are his post-Olympics plans?
"Once I hang my suit up I want to be able to look back and say I've done everything I can in my career — whether that's having fifty gold medals or having sixteen total medals," the Baltimore, Maryland native has told Us Weekly last week. "If I can say I've done everything I've wanted, I think that's really all that matters."
Want more Olympics? Meet Team USA's families, go inside their homes (and gyms!), and more! Check out Us Weekly's Olympic collectors edition, "American Heroes," on newsstands now. Order at bn.com/usolympics.
