Park Tae-hwan

Park Tae-hwan of South Korea finished second after Michael Phelps, the U.S. world champion, in the men's 200-meter freestyle swimming at the Beijing Olympics Tuesday.

Park clocked 1:44.85, bagging his second medal after winning a gold in the men's 400-meter freestyle Sunday.

Phelps won his third gold medal and record-tying ninth of his career, breaking his own world record with a time of 1 minute, 42.96 seconds. His previous world record was 1:43.86 set at last year's world championships in Australia.

Peter Vanderkaay of the United States earned the bronze in 1:45.14.

Phelps' ninth gold medal tied him with four others, including Mark Spitz and track star Carl Lewis, for most career golds. He is 3-for-3 in his attempt to break Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single games.