The previous record of 18 Olympic medals belonged to Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina but a silver medal in the 200 metres butterfly followed just an hour later by gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay, saw Phelps equal and then quickly surpass the milestone.

Fittingly, Latynina was among those in the crowd at the sold-out 17,000 arena.

The 77-year-old grandmother had hoped to be able to present the medal to Phelps but International Olympic Committee (IOC) red-tape prevented that from happening. 

For many experts, the 27-year-old from Baltimore was already the greatest Olympian ever after he won eight golds at the last Olympics in Beijing, which is more than any other athlete at a single Games.

But he officially beat Latynina's medal tally tonight by picking up his second and third medal of the London 2012 Olympics, following a silver in the 4x100 freestyle relay on Sunday (July 29), in front of a deafening crowd and his mother Debbie, who was reduced to tears as Phelps finished off a gold medal winning relay performance for the Americans.

"It's very special," said Phelps following the win.

"I saw my mum and I'm starting to pick out people in the crowd.

Phelps' mother Debbie, and sister Hilary, emotionally applauded his win

"But this is largely down to my teammates in the relay and I've been in a huddle with them because they made it possible.

"If I didn't get a big enough lead then who knows what would have happened."

The historic night did not begin overly well for Phelps as he suffered a shock defeat to South Africa's Chad le Clos in the 200m butterfly – his signature event.

Phelps led from the start but as he eased into the wall at the finish, the South African edged past him to secure an unlikely gold in 1min 52.96sec, 0.05 ahead of the American who was forced to settle for silver.

It was a minor blow for Phelps who was aiming to become the first male swimmer to claim gold in the same individual event at three successive Olympics.

But he quickly shrugged it off as he anchored the American quartet, which also featured Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer and Ricky Berens to gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay in a blistering time of 6:59.70 to finish over three seconds ahead of second-place France and six ahead of bronze medallists China.

Michael Phelps celebrates with teammates Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte and Ricky Berens after winning the gold in the Men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay

The win gave Phelps his first gold of the London 2012 Olympic Games while his overall medal tally now stands at 15 golds, two silvers and two bronzes from Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

It now eclipses Latynina's overall medal tally of nine golds, five silvers and four bronze medals from Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964.

"I never gave too much importance to this," Latynina said.

"I just lived a normal life.

"The medals are one thing.

"Me, myself, my family, my children are another thing.

"I'm quite happy there is a man in the world who can overcome my record,' finally."

Astonishingly, Phelps will be hoping to add to that tally in the three remaining events he will compete in at London 2012 before he retires following the conclusion of the Olympics.

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