BEIJING – So close.

Serbia’s Milorad Cavic came achingly close to ending Michael Phelps quest for eight gold medals, finishing one-hundredth of a second behind America’s swim king in Saturday night’s 100-meter butterfly.

The margin of victory was tiny, and the result will be debated for decades. For nearly the entire race, Cavic looked on his way to an upset of historical levels, but in the final 10 meters Phelps splashed into contention.

“There was no point of looking over,” Cavic said. “I knew he was there. I knew he was coming.”

At the wall, Cavic’s flawless performance finally faltered. He reached slightly too soon while Phelps kept stroking. Replays reveal Phelps’ left hand touching the wall the smallest of instants before Cavic.

Serbians made a written protest a few minutes after the race, but declined to pursue the protest after watching video of the finish, said FINA official Cornel Marculescu.

“The question was for him (Phelps) to share or not to share,” Marculeseu said. But after viewing the replay, he said, “there is no doubt whatsoever that the first arrival was Michael Phelps.”

That was the ending, but near the ending, Phelps thought he was doomed to second and the end of his dream.

“When I took that stroke, I thought I’d lost the race there, but it turns out that was the difference,” Phelps said. “I’m just lost for words.”

“I had a long finish,” Cavic said. “Michael Phelps had a short finish.”

A few minutes later, Phelps was standing on the medal stand, a gold-medal winner for the seventh time in this Olympics. Cavic stood next to him, smiling.

He was smiling a few minutes later. Cavic swims for Serbia, but he was born in Orange County, near Los Angeles, and raised in the United States. This week, he was the only hope to stop Phelps drive to history, and he enjoyed his status as a possible spoiler.

“They’ll talk about that guy that took it away from him,” Cavic said. “I’d love to be that guy.”

He came so close, but seems remarkably at peace with his fate. He said he looks forward to listening to men and women tell him over the next several decades that he really did beat Phelps.

He said he will not support any protest of Phelps’ victory and declines to think about the what-ifs.

“I’m enjoying this,” Cavic said. “From my heart, I’m really enjoying this moment. For me, it’s just an incredible feat to win this medal. I’m not about fighting it … I didn’t beat Michael Phelps.”

Cavic did slip in one dig at Phelps. If the men raced again, Cavic said with a smile, “I would win it.”

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