After the third day of full competition, China remains atop the medals table with nine golds, three silvers and two bronzes, followed by South Korea (4-4-0) and the United States (3-4-5).

Thanks to US teammate Jason Lezak's heroic performance in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay final, Michael Phelps won the second of what he hopes will be a record eight gold medals at the Games.

Lezak, the anchor of the American quartet, was nearly a body length behind French leader Alain Bernard at the final turn, but the 32-year-old charged to overtake his rival finally, but just by centimeters. The US team's result of 3:08.24 was 3.99 seconds off the the world record they set earlier in the heats.

"It was unbelievable. Jason finished the race better than we could have asked for," Phelps said. "At the end, as you could see I was pretty excited. I lost my voice, and I was very emotional."

Phelps will go for his third gold in Tuesday's 200m freestyle.

Earlier, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry set the tone for Day Three when she chopped two tenths of a second off the 100m backstroke record to win her semifinal heat in 58.77 seconds.

Kosuke Kitajima of Japan then retained his 100m breaststroke crown in a world record time of 58.91 seconds, shaving 0.22 off the previous world best set by American Brendan Hansen in 2006."It feels even better than Athens. It's wonderful to be able to savor a moment like this again. I have been waiting so long for it," said Kitajima, the first Japanese swimmer to win three individual Olympic medals.

The fourth and last record fell in the evening when Italy's Federica Pellegrini won her 200m freestyle heat in 1:55.45, eclipsing the previous mark of 1:55.52.

Also at the Water Cube, Australian Lisbeth Trickett won the women's 100m butterfly in 56.73, and the women's 400m freestyle gold went to Britain's Rebecca Adlington in 4:03.22.

Spanish cyclist Maria Isobel Moreno became the first casualty of strict doping control at the Beijing Games. The 27-year-old tested positive for EPO, a blood-boosting hormone, and left China on July 31, the same day before the result was informed.

Moreno faces a two-year ban and, under the IOC's new rule, she could be barred from the 2012 London Olympics.

China picked up three golds on Monday from diving and weightlifting.

Lin Yue and Huo Liang led all the way to win the men's 10-meter platform synchronized diving event, while Chen Yanqing and Zhang Xiangxiang swept the two golds available in weightlifting.

The 29-year-old Chen, who came out of retirement to represent her country at the Games, set two Olympic records on her way to defending her women's 58kg class title. She is the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic gold in weightlifting.

"It's a one-in-a-million chance for me to compete in my country, and though I've encountered many difficulties, I survived," said Chen. "This couldn't be a better result for me."

Zhang Xiangxiang, whose previous best performance was a bronze medal at the Sydney Games, finally claimed his first major title in what he called his swansong. The 25-year-old lifted 143kg in snatch and 176kg in clean and jerk for a winning total of 319kg in the men's 62kg category.

"In order to become an Olympic champion, it almost cost my life," Zhang said. "This time on the stage has been a perfect ending to my career."

India, the world's second most populous country after China, celebrated its first ever individual Olympic gold medal when Abhinav Bindra dethroned Chinese defending shooting champion Zhu Qinan to win the men's 10m air rifle title.

Bindra, who trailed by two points after the qualification round, went into the last shot in the final level with Henri Hakkinen of Finland on 689.7 points. While Bindra scored 10.8 in the deciding shot, Hakkinen tallied only 9.7 to concede the silver to Zhu.

"It's the best feeling of my life. It's hard to describe," said Bindra, a 25-year-old businessman.

In archery, South Korea was invincible as Im Dong-hyun, Lee Chang-hwan and Park Kyung-mo defeated Italians to win the men's team title. China took the bronze, the country's first ever men's archery medal.

Satu Makela-Nummela grabbed Finland's first gold medal at the Games when she won the women's trap event, and Azerbaijan also nabbed its first gold with judoka Elnur Mammadli in the men's 73kg category.

In badminton, Japanese pair Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna pulled off a major upset when they came from one set down to beat Chinese reigning Olympic champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen 8-21, 23-21, 21-14 in the quarterfinals of the women's doubles.

"This was the biggest win of our lives," Suetsuna said.

In women's volleyball, China overcame an early scare to beat Poland 3-1, while Brazil crushed six-time gold medalists Russia in straight sets and Cuba defeated the United States in similar fashion.