Phelps on course for golden eight

Michael Phelps’ bid for a record eight golds at the Beijing Games was kept alive in dramatic fashion in the 4x100m freestyle relay as the United States snatched gold from France with a new world record.

Phelps set a blistering pace on the first leg but after 300m the American quartet trailed France and it took a brilliant swim from Jason Lezak on the final leg to win in a time of three minutes, 8.24 seconds, just 0.08 ahead of France with Australia third.