Sunday, August 22, 2004
New York City - OlympicsPhelps is now an eighth wonder
BY MICHAEL DOBIE
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
August 21, 2004, 10:23 PM EDT
ATHENS -- Michael Phelps was front and center, as always. Only this time, he was smack in the middle of the cheering section. His swim meet was over. Now it was time to be spectator and cheerleader, and Phelps yelled his head off. He waved his American flag, led chants, and generally acted like a normal teenager. Normal, that is, if you discount the steady stream of swimmers from other countries who kept asking for his autograph, and the cameramen in front of him, recording every cheer for his teammates on the U.S. swim team. Phelps had himself a grand time last night. His teammates gave him a great show. Phelps was especially stoked for the 4x100- meter medley relay. That was the event he was supposed to swim before giving up his spot to butterfly rival Ian Crocker.
No one was more pleased than Phelps when Crocker burned through his leg in 50.28 seconds, which U.S. coach Eddie Reese said was the second-fastest butterfly split ever. Phelps screamed in the front row of the stands on the pool deck. He banged his fists on the side of the barrier. When Jason Lezak touched the wall in a world-record time of 3:30.68, Phelps' hands shot up in unison with his comrades on the pool deck.
"I can't tell you enough how exciting it is to be on the other side of the sport," Phelps said afterward. "Being part of the team in the stands, especially being on deck level where some of the swimmers can see you or they can hear you taking a breath, it's exciting to be part of that."
He had a swimmer's appreciation of the medley. He knew how much it meant to Aaron Peirsol (53.45) to break Lenny Krayzelburg's 100 backstroke record on the opening leg, and how much it meant to breast.stroker Brendan Hansen to hold off Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, who beat Hansen in both individual events. And how much it meant to Lezak to be the anchor.
Mostly, though, Phelps knew what it meant to Crocker to be given the chance to replace the world's best swimmer on the team that traditionally closes the Olympic swim meet.
"I'm proud of giving someone like Ian another chance," Phelps said. "Tonight after the relay, he came up and gave me a big hug. It seemed like so many emotions were exchanged in that hug. It was very exciting. It felt like I was part of the race. I couldn't be more happy for the guy."
Crocker couldn't have been more moved. When told Friday night that Phelps was relinquishing his spot, Crocker did not want to take it. He knew the relay spot was supposed to go to the winner of Friday night's 100 butterfly; Phelps had come from behind to defeat Crocker.
"I didn't want to do it; I felt like I hadn't earned it," Crocker said. "I did everything I could in my power to do that and it didn't work out. It was definitely a hard thing ... trying to figure out what to do being given a gift you can't possibly accept."
Crocker ended up saying yes, and the team swam fast enough to give Phelps, who helped the team qualify for the final, another gold medal. It was his sixth gold medal of the meet and eighth medal overall, and it tied him with Soviet gymnast Alek.sandr Dityatin (1980) for most medals in one Olympic Games.
"Wow," Phelps said. "I came to win one, and I did something no one ever did in the sport of swimming before. I set a path. I wanted to become the first Michael Phelps."
He ended up swimming 17 races in eight days and set one world record, seven Olympic records and three American records. There were 13 individual events on the men's program. If Phelps were a nation -- and with the endorsements likely to come his way, his gross national product might approach that of a small country -- he would have won the gold-medal count with four. The rest of the U.S. men had three. Australia also had three, Japan took two and Pie.ter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands got the other.
Phelps swam fast, he enjoyed himself, he made a wonderful gesture to a friend, and he got to eat at McDonald's twice Saturday. He fell one short of seven gold medals, but Beijing is only four years away, and Phelps is only 19.
"Hopefully, he'll be back," coach Bob Bowman said. "Maybe this is the first chapter in a long career. He certainly met every expectation I had. He's going home with a lot more hardware than he did last time. That's sort of how we judge ourselves: Are you better now than you were four years ago?"
As Phelps stood at poolside, flag in hand, smiling, a fistful of medals back in his room, how could the answer be anything but yes.
BY MICHAEL DOBIE
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
August 21, 2004, 10:23 PM EDT
ATHENS -- Michael Phelps was front and center, as always. Only this time, he was smack in the middle of the cheering section. His swim meet was over. Now it was time to be spectator and cheerleader, and Phelps yelled his head off. He waved his American flag, led chants, and generally acted like a normal teenager. Normal, that is, if you discount the steady stream of swimmers from other countries who kept asking for his autograph, and the cameramen in front of him, recording every cheer for his teammates on the U.S. swim team. Phelps had himself a grand time last night. His teammates gave him a great show. Phelps was especially stoked for the 4x100- meter medley relay. That was the event he was supposed to swim before giving up his spot to butterfly rival Ian Crocker.
No one was more pleased than Phelps when Crocker burned through his leg in 50.28 seconds, which U.S. coach Eddie Reese said was the second-fastest butterfly split ever. Phelps screamed in the front row of the stands on the pool deck. He banged his fists on the side of the barrier. When Jason Lezak touched the wall in a world-record time of 3:30.68, Phelps' hands shot up in unison with his comrades on the pool deck.
"I can't tell you enough how exciting it is to be on the other side of the sport," Phelps said afterward. "Being part of the team in the stands, especially being on deck level where some of the swimmers can see you or they can hear you taking a breath, it's exciting to be part of that."
He had a swimmer's appreciation of the medley. He knew how much it meant to Aaron Peirsol (53.45) to break Lenny Krayzelburg's 100 backstroke record on the opening leg, and how much it meant to breast.stroker Brendan Hansen to hold off Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, who beat Hansen in both individual events. And how much it meant to Lezak to be the anchor.
Mostly, though, Phelps knew what it meant to Crocker to be given the chance to replace the world's best swimmer on the team that traditionally closes the Olympic swim meet.
"I'm proud of giving someone like Ian another chance," Phelps said. "Tonight after the relay, he came up and gave me a big hug. It seemed like so many emotions were exchanged in that hug. It was very exciting. It felt like I was part of the race. I couldn't be more happy for the guy."
Crocker couldn't have been more moved. When told Friday night that Phelps was relinquishing his spot, Crocker did not want to take it. He knew the relay spot was supposed to go to the winner of Friday night's 100 butterfly; Phelps had come from behind to defeat Crocker.
"I didn't want to do it; I felt like I hadn't earned it," Crocker said. "I did everything I could in my power to do that and it didn't work out. It was definitely a hard thing ... trying to figure out what to do being given a gift you can't possibly accept."
Crocker ended up saying yes, and the team swam fast enough to give Phelps, who helped the team qualify for the final, another gold medal. It was his sixth gold medal of the meet and eighth medal overall, and it tied him with Soviet gymnast Alek.sandr Dityatin (1980) for most medals in one Olympic Games.
"Wow," Phelps said. "I came to win one, and I did something no one ever did in the sport of swimming before. I set a path. I wanted to become the first Michael Phelps."
He ended up swimming 17 races in eight days and set one world record, seven Olympic records and three American records. There were 13 individual events on the men's program. If Phelps were a nation -- and with the endorsements likely to come his way, his gross national product might approach that of a small country -- he would have won the gold-medal count with four. The rest of the U.S. men had three. Australia also had three, Japan took two and Pie.ter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands got the other.
Phelps swam fast, he enjoyed himself, he made a wonderful gesture to a friend, and he got to eat at McDonald's twice Saturday. He fell one short of seven gold medals, but Beijing is only four years away, and Phelps is only 19.
"Hopefully, he'll be back," coach Bob Bowman said. "Maybe this is the first chapter in a long career. He certainly met every expectation I had. He's going home with a lot more hardware than he did last time. That's sort of how we judge ourselves: Are you better now than you were four years ago?"
As Phelps stood at poolside, flag in hand, smiling, a fistful of medals back in his room, how could the answer be anything but yes.
