Glowing from his record-breaking eighth Olympic gold medal win, the world’s greatest swimmer just wants to give his mother a proper hug.

　　Michael Phelps, whose quest to beat Mark Spitz’s 36-year record of seven golds for a single Olympics has dominated the Beijing Games, said all he wants to do now is go home and relax.

　　“The first thing I’d like to do to my mum is just hug her. I’ve literally seen her for about 30 seconds this whole time,” said Phelps, whose weepy mother Debbie has been a fixture in the stands as he racked up medals this week.

　　“One of the things I really want to do is just lay in my own bed for 5 minutes and just relax,” Phelps said, after the United States won the men’s medley relay on Sunday and brought him his dream of a golden eight.

　　His medal round his neck, Phelps climbed up past photographers in the press seats after the race so he could reach up and kiss his mother and sisters in the stands above.

　　“She just said congratulations. And then she started crying, and I started crying and then my sister started crying. We haven’t really had too much time together,” Phelps said.

　　The 23-year-old’s breathtaking nine days of slicing through the Water Cube pool have earned him a $1 million bonus from sponsors and a place in the pantheon of all-time sporting greats.

　　But the swimmer, whose parents separated when he was young, admitted he is still a mummy’s boy. After a vacation with friends to celebrate, Debbie wants him to knuckle down and try out for the 2009 swimming championships in Rome.

　　“My mum’s told me I’d better make the team because she wants to go to Rome. So I’ve got the pressure from the mum,” he said.

　　Phelps told a news conference he was glad to have been tested around 40 times for doping before and during the Beijing Games.

　　Aside from his eight emotive podium moments, he said some of his best memories from the Games would be times behind the scenes, chatting and playing boardgames with teammates.

　　“Outside the pool, in the pool, on the medals podium, there are tonnes of memories I’ll have from this,” Phelps said.

　　“I’m thankful everything turned out pretty much perfect.”