US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps won his first gold medal of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China yesterday (or today? I’m still not sure how the time difference works) and he did so by also setting a new world record for the Men’s 400-meter Individual Medley:
This latest gold medal is his 7th overall, which has him closing in on Olympic athletes Larisa Latynina, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi’s 9 gold medals (which is the most gold medals of any single Olympian) … but with quite a few more events still to come in these Olympics, I think that Phelps will end up surpassing Spitz and will end up as the most successful Olympian of all time. But, let’s just focus on this gold medal right now:
Michael Phelps got one of his toughest races out of the way, and it couldn’t have been any easier. With U.S. President George W. Bush cheering him on, Phelps dominated his first event of the Beijing Olympics on Sunday morning, crushing his own world record and all hopes of his challengers with a mark of 4 minutes, 3.84 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley. This was thought to be a potential stumbling block in Phelps’ quest to win eight gold medals after fellow American and good friend Ryan Lochte matched him stroke for stroke at the U.S. Olympic trials just over a month ago. Both went under the previous world record in the 400 IM then, with Phelps touching first in 4:05.25. But Phelps beat Lochte when it really mattered. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver in 4:06.16, while Lochte faded to third in 4:08.09 — more than 4 seconds behind the amazing Phelps. “I’m pretty happy. That was a pretty emotional race,” Phelps said. “I knew it was going to be a tough race all the way through” … On the medal stand, Phelps’ eyes watered as the U.S. flag was raised to the rafters. The only glitch came during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” which cut off a few seconds before the end, cracking up Phelps. Lochte, who thought he could give Phelps a run for the gold, was blown out by the world’s greatest swimmer.
Amazing. Michael Phelps is like a machine … and he just keeps getting better and better. I have no doubt that he’s going to pick up at least a couple more gold medals, if not more. He really makes the US Olympic Team proud. Well done, Phelpsie … I’m looking forward to seeing you atop a few more medal stands as the Olympic Games carry on.
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