Michael Phelps Wins His 8th Gold Medal
In what I hope will become a semi-regular event thruout the rest of the Olympic swimming competitions, it is my extreme pleasure to report that Michael Phelps won his second gold medal (and his 8th gold medal overall) of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China yesterday (today?) as his relay team made up of teammates Jason Lezak, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones not only took the gold in the Men’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay race but they also set a new world record … by 0.08 of a second:
Would Michael Phelps’s bid for eight gold medals in the Beijing Games dissolve in a pool at the Water Cube on Monday? The answer was a resounding No. Not over Jason Lezak’s 32-year-old body. Lezak, swimming the anchor leg of the United States’ 4×100-meter freestyle relay, hit the water a half-second after Alain Bernard of France, who came into the race as the world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle. “I knew I was going to have to swim out of my mind,” Lezak said, adding, “I had more adrenaline going than I’ve ever had in my life.” Dragging off Bernard, who was hugging the lane line that separated them, Lezak made up ground, but with 25 meters remaining it appeared as if he would run out of pool. Trailing Bernard by half a body length, Lezak put his head down and surged to the wall. A three-time Olympian, Lezak had been in this predicament before. He anchored the American 4×100 relay teams at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics that came up short. This time, he was part of a photo finish. When the water settled, the giant video scoreboard showed that Lezak had out-touched Bernard by 0.08 of a second. Phelps’s pursuit of Mark Spitz’s record of seven swimming gold medals in one Olympics remained alive with a little help from his mates. Lezak’s split of 46.06 seconds was the fastest anchor leg ever, by 0.73, and his personal best by over 1.2 seconds. “His last 50 meters were absolutely incredible,” Phelps said. “He had a perfect finish.” After Lezak touched, Phelps, who swam the first leg, raised his arms and let out a primal scream. Garrett Weber-Gale, who swam second, came up from behind him and swallowed him in a hug. The United States was timed in 3 minutes 8.24 seconds, shattering by nearly four seconds the world record that its B team had set the previous night. France won the silver in 3:08.32. Australia, benefiting from a world-record setting lead-off swim of 47.24 from Eamon Sullivan, was third … With his surge, Lezak kept alive Phelps’s drive to break Spitz’s record and collect a million-dollar bonus from Speedo. Asked if he would demand a cut if Phelps succeeds, Lezak grinned and joked, “We’ve already talked about that.” Phelps, 23, was timed in 47.51 on the first leg, an American record, nearly half a second faster than he clocked at the United States Olympic trials but behind Sullivan’s 47.24. Only the first relay leg can qualify for records because it comes with a traditional standing start.
Wow … I wasn’t able to watch the race live on TV last night (since I was at dinner with my peeps) but I did DVR and watch it afterwards … it was close, y’all … Phelps owes Lezak a big cut of his $1 million if he ends up winning all of his gold medals ;) Again, much congrats to the US Team for this win … and good luck, Phelpsie … just 6 more gold medals to go.
Tags: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Cullen Jones, Garrett Weber-Gale, Jason Lezak, Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay, Michael Phelps
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August 11th, 2008 at 8:27 am
U-S-A! Woohoo! Awesome.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:29 am
I want to ride Micheal Phelps like a show pony.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:43 am
That race was beyond exciting. I was doing the swimming motions to “help” the U.S.A. team win. Funny picture but it was just, well there are no words. It was excellent. I have never been more excited than when they one. There was clapping and crying. Michael Phelps being hot doesn’t hurt either.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:47 am
GO TEAM USA!!! Great news. Keep up the hard work. We are the best:)!!!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:27 am
that definitely shut the french up. what an exciting thing to witness. beyond amazing
August 11th, 2008 at 9:33 am
I watched the race and had to scream into pillows so that I wouldn’t wake up my three year old! IT. WAS. PHENOMENAL!
Yeah, so Michael is my crush…and he’s legal now so it shouldn’t be a problem! ;)
August 11th, 2008 at 9:42 am
That was the most amazing race I’ve ever seen! I was so excited during the whole thing, my heart was racing! That has to be one of the most phenomenal swimming races in history!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Jason and Garrett are the hot ones on that team. Forget Michael Phelps, even though he’s an awesome swimmer. The hotness belongs to Garrett and Jason! Yum!
August 11th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I swam in high school and the excitement in a relay freestyle is overwhelming. the instensity of this race was amazing and Jason Lezak was like a god on water. major props to him. THIS is what a team is all about!
August 11th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Phelps is great but my God, Lezak was fantastic! The way he swam to surpass France was just amazing to watch :)
August 11th, 2008 at 10:15 am
That really was an INCREDIBLE race. Now I understand why Lezak is captain. THAT is how you finish a race. And all that smack talking the French did… GO USA!
August 11th, 2008 at 10:25 am
He’s a great athlete and all but those pics of Phelps looks FREAKY.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Sorry, but he still looks like a smaller Andre the Giant to me… Don’t believe me? Check out my blog for a comparison.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:49 am
sbswftwkbkqhfcojltlrmnzytbbymx
August 11th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I thought I wouldn’t watch much of the Olympics this summer with China being royally screwed up and all but Michael Phelps and co. beating the shit talking French just made it all good for me. USA!!
August 11th, 2008 at 11:00 am
OMG, I freaked when I read the headline that said he was his 8th but I realized it must be a typo.
Irregardless, that race was AMAZING!
August 11th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I watched that live last night with my friends because I was having a bonfire. We were watching it through my windows outside and we were screaming at the top of our lungs. When Team USA won, and smashed the French, we were so excited that we danced and cheered for Team USA!!!!!!!!!!
August 11th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I watched that live last night. it was really intense! & cool. i was surprised when USA just beat France by so little.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Awesome, awesome, awesome! Lezak defied his humanity and swam like a god! I love when the whole world gets excited about swimming. It’s such an amazing sport that so few people are really into. I’ve watched the race over and over again, and I still can’t believe he caught that little frenchie! It made me so proud of the USA!!
August 11th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Hooray for swimming!!!!!!!!! =)
August 11th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I watched it last night, and jumped out of my seat!! That was the best swimming race I have ever seen!! The US men are truly amazing!!
August 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
The win made it even sweeter with that fact that the French was talking smack before the race.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I watched the interview by the blond lady after the swim and I hat e to say she acted like the black guy wasnt there. Ugh. America.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Margie- IT IS his 8th medal, 6 are from previous Olympics!
That was amazing! So.damn.cool.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Cullen Jones is my new crush…he’s beautiful.
August 11th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
i saw this race and it was amazing!!! it makes me wish i kept up with swimming. but the us won by .08 seconds, they shattered the old wr by almost 4 sec. i think or something close to that. Anyways it was amazing after from what i hear the french were talkin mad smack about how they were going to crush the us. sorry bitches peace the spork out.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:46 am
I watched this live and it was without out a doubt the most amazing swimming event I’ve ever seen… possibly even greatest sports moment for me anyway. They wer all amazing and I can’t wait to see what else they can do.
Also, a small correction is that they won by .08 of a second. They beat the old world record (that they set the night before) with 3.99, with 5 teams in the final actually going below that time. It was amazing!
August 12th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Um, thanks Jen. I just read it as 8th of this Olympics since that is what he is vying for.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
[...] Michael Phelps Wins His 8th Gold Medal In what I hope will become a semi-regular event thruout the rest of the Olympic swimming competitions, it is my extreme pleasure to report that Michael Phelps won his second gold medal (and his 8th gold medal overall) of the 2008 Summer … Read More Post a Comment [...]
August 19th, 2008 at 5:30 am
This Guys The Real Deal, “Role-Model”
Congratulations Michael Phelps and to
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