ATHENS, Greece - With her silver medal Saturday in the women's 400-meter medley relay, Jenny Thompson became the most decorated U.S. Olympian of all time with 12 medals, breaking a tie with swimmers Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi and shooter Carl Osburn.

She also now ranks second all-time among female Olympic medalists, behind only Larissa Latynina of the former USSR and her 18 gymnastics medals.

But the records seemed rather empty for the four-time Olympian.

The 31-year-old Thompson couldn’t hold on in the butterfly when given a lead by Natalie Coughlin (backstroke) and Amanda Beard (breaststroke), who covered the first 200 under world-record pace.

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Petria Thomas was more than two seconds faster than Thompson, giving Australia a half-second lead, and Kara Lynn Joyce had no chance of catching world-record holder Jodie Henry in the freestyle.

“This is my last Olympics, so tonight was a little bittersweet,” Thompson said. “The whole week has been a little nostalgic, so I’ve been trying to soak up as much as possible. I had hoped to do a little better here, but I’m pretty proud just to be here at all.”

Thompson’s fourth — and final — Olympics certainly won’t be remembered as one of her best. She was overtaken by Henry on the anchor leg of the 400 freestyle relay, relegating the United States to another silver.

Thompson was fifth and seventh in her two individual events, which means she’ll end her career without a gold of her own. Ten of her medals came in relays, including eight golds. Her only individual medals were a silver from the 1992 Barcelona Games and a bronze in Sydney four years ago.

And Thompson’s record may not hold up for long. Phelps, only 19, got a good start toward breaking it with his performance in Athens: six gold medals — one short of Spitz’s 1972 haul in Munich — and two bronzes.

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