Spitz: Cavic beat Phelps in Beijing

LONDON - Mark Spitz, former world's best swimmer and winner of seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, has alleged that he has been sent an email saying Michael Phelps did not beat Milorad Cavic to the 100m butterly that secured him an eighth gold at Beijing Olympics 2008.

Spitz said he had been sent an email posted by Omega that had said Phelps had lost the 100m butterfly final.

"If they (Omega) were the official time keeper why was that not available moments after the race? I do not believe he won the race but he is still the greatest swimmer in the world, with or without that medal," Spitz told British newspaper Daily Express during the Laureus Sports Awards ceremony in Shanghai last week, where Serbia's Novak Djokovic was handed his second World Sportsman of the Year Award.

The official result showed Phelps clocking 50.58, beating Cavic by just a hundredth of a second.

One year after the controversial race, an Omega representative said that Cavic had touched first but with less pressure to the pad than Phelps since he had been gliding and it had therefore taken him more time to exert minimum pressure to stop the clock.

Photo Tanjug, M. Jelesijevic (archive)