MICHAEL PHELPS produced a vintage performance to claim an astonishing 19th Olympic gold medal of his career Sunday.

    The 31-year-old, who quit the sport after the 2012 Games, was back with a bang in Rio as Team USA eased to victory in the 4x100 meters freestyle relay.

    Phelps, who produced a stunning second leg, has now won 23 medals in total, extending his record as the most decorated Olympian of all time.

    With son Boomer in attendance, Phelps did his kid proud, along with teammates Caleb Dressel, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian.

    It was the second gold of the night for the U.S. after Katie Ledecky produced an astonishing performance to win gold in the 400m freestyle.

    Phelps’ eyes glistened, but no tears came. Not like his younger teammates, who had never won a medal like this before.

    Phelps smiled and laughed, and he raised his fists in triumph. He’d done this 18 times before, let a gold medal fall against his chest.

    But even so, this 19th gold medal felt different. And special. It was the first one his son, Boomer, got to see, even though the 3-month-old most certainly won’t remember it.

    Phelps, 31, turned in a terrific second leg of the Americans’ exhilarating 4x100 freestyle relay, giving his teammates a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Fellow Olympic veteran Nathan Adrian held off the furious French to anchor the U.S. and clinch the Americans’ first gold medal in this event in a major international meet since 2009.

    “It felt good to get, after my last 400 free relay of my career, this thing around my neck,” Phelps said, glancing down and touching his gold medal. “It feels good to get it back.”

    The U.S. men have medaled in every relay event in every Olympics in which they’ve competed. But, due to a rather embarrassing performance a year ago at the world championships in Kazan, Russia — in which a Phelps-less lineup did not even qualify for the final — that relay streak was in real jeopardy.

    “Phelps proved that he belonged there,” Adrian said. “He obviously proved that he definitely belonged there. He’s the first to say that if he wasn’t in a place to step up and throw an amazing leg down, he would be the first to step down. He’s 100 percent a team player.”

    Phelps said his 47.12 split was the fastest relay split he’d ever swum in his career, and that he’s happy that he’s starting to close out the final Olympics of his career the way he wants, with gold.

    When Phelps arrived in Rio as a 31-year-old swimmer who retired once and endured plenty of turmoil away from the pool, everyone wondered just how many gold medals was a realistic goal.

    Phelps will be back at the pool for the preliminaries of the 200-meter butterfly, a title he is especially eager to reclaim after an ill-timed finish let South Africa’s Chad le Clos snatch away the gold at the 2012 London Games.

    Phelps will also compete in the 100 fly and 200 individual medley, as well as two more relays.

    (SD-Agencies)