Michael Phelps to compete for seven golds in London

Michael Phelps will not try to match his Olympic record haul of eight gold medals when he competes in London this summer.

Instead, the 27-year-old will drop the 200m freestyle from his schedule in order to focus on the 4x400 freestyle relay, his coach Bob Bowman has revealed.

The final of the 4x400 freestyle relay takes place on the same day as the heats for the 200m individual freestyle.

Posting on Twitter, Bowman said: "Michael Phelps will be removing the individual 200 freestyle from his Olympic programme. This will give him a full slate of seven events.

"This change will allow him to focus more energy on relays for Team USA."

Phelps will also compete in the 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medleys - events he won in Beijing - as well as three relay races.