Athens, Greece ? Michael Phelps matched Mark Spitz’s record of four individual gold medals in the Olympic pool Friday night with a stirring comeback in the 100-meter butterfly, then removed himself from further competition at these games.

Phelps nipped teammate Ian Crocker at the wall by .04 seconds to win his fifth gold medal and earn the right to swim the butterfly leg in the 400-meter medley relay final today.

Shortly after winning his seventh medal of these Olympics, Phelps told U.S. men’s coach Eddie Reese that he wanted to give up his spot in the medley relay to Crocker.

“We came into this meet as a team and we’re going to leave it as a team,” Phelps said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Midway through the race, Crocker led Phelps by a half-body length. Phelps was in fifth, but used his huge wingspan to rally and catch Crocker at the wall in an Olympic record of 51.25 seconds.

Because Phelps swam in the preliminaries of the medley relay, he still would get a medal if the U.S. team reaches the podium in the final.

Softball

Athens, Greece — The U.S. team remained unbeaten for the Olympics — and for one day, Japan was perfect, too.

The Americans beat Taiwan for their seventh straight Olympic shutout and 77th win in a row. Cat Osterman struck out 10 in six innings, and the United States completed a perfect run through the preliminary round.

Later, Yukiko Ueno did Osterman one better, pitching the first perfect game in Olympic history to lead Japan past China. Ueno struck out nine.

American Michael Phelps swims to a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly. He earned his fourth individual gold medal Friday at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Athens, Greece.

Women’s Soccer

Thessaloniki, Greece — Abby Wambach finished a four-on-zero breakaway in the 59th minute, her 17th goal in her last 18 games, to give the U.S. a quarterfinal victory over Japan. The Americans will play Germany in the semifinals Monday in Iraklion.

Tennis

Athens, Greece — Unseeded American Mardy Fish beat No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the Olympic semifinals. In Sunday’s final, Fish will play No. 10 Nicolas Massu, who defeated Taylor Dent, 7-6 (5), 6-1, in another U.S.-Chile match.

Diving

Athens, Greece — Laura Wilkinson saved her best dive for last, and the defending Olympic gold medalist advanced past the preliminaries of 10-meter platform.

Shooting

Athens, Greece — American Matt Emmons won the gold medal in the 50-meter prone rifle competition with a score of 703.3.

Women’s Basketball

Athens, Greece — Challenged for the first time in these Olympics, the U.S. women’s basketball team fought through foul problems and long stretches of cold shooting to clinch first place in its preliminary group with a 71-58 victory over Spain. Lisa Leslie led the United States with 19 points and had 15 in the first half.

Women’s Volleyball

Athens, Greece — Yumilka Ruiz Luaces had 13 points to lead the Cubans, who improved to 3-1 and clinched a spot in the medal round. China also guaranteed itself a place in the quarterfinals with a sweep of Germany, raising its record to 3-1 behind 14 points from Hao Yang.