The 27-year old swimmer took home the silver medal in to 200 butterfly and then anchored the United States to gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
Phelps broke a record set by Larisa Latynina, a Soviet gymnast who won her last of 18 Olympic medals back in 1964.
Phelps took home eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2004 Games in Athens, the swimmer took home six gold medals and two bronze.
NBC was criticized for spoiling Phelps’s loss to teammate Ryan Lochte on Sunday before the games aired on American TV.
Phelp’s popularity and the record-breaking nature of his 19th medal meant that news of the win spread across social media and official Olympic websites almost instantly.
As expected, the Internet is now caught up in Phelps-fever.
Michael Phelps still has two more races to compete in before his Olympic career comes to an end.
