PHELPS WINS EIGHTH GOLD MEDAL AND STUNNED THE WORLD
Michael Phelps went on Sunday where no man has been before to
win a record eighth gold at one Olympicsand better Mark Spitz’s
landmark 1972 feat.
Phelps held his arms aloft and hugged team mates after a relatively
easy men’s 4×100 meters medley relay win unlike the finger-tip
finishes in two of his earlier Beijing golds.
The all-time most successful Olympian, who has over nine days in
China proved himself to be one of the greatest sportsmen the world
has seen, showed he was still human, though.
"I just want to see my mom," he said after a series of swims which will
net him $1 million in sponsors’ bonuses alone.
Phelps’s 14th career gold, after six in Athens, took him past fellow
American Spitz’s record seven at one Games in Munich. He has five
more now than any other Olympian in the 112-year history of the
Games.
"It’s been nothing but an upwards rollercoaster but it’s been nothing
but fun," he added at his moment of triumph, embracing his tearful
mother and sister. "With so many people saying it couldn’t be done,
all it takes is an imagination."
Phelps achievement has dazzled the Chinese hosts, for whom eight
is a lucky number, and brought welcome cheer to Americans during
hard times.
"The economy and gas prices are always on your mind but Michael’s
success helps you forget depressing things," Los Angeles resident
Samantha Higgins said among tens of millions glued to Phelps’s
every race on TV in the United States.
But it has been the scintillating sport, not scandals, in Beijing
dominating attention and relegating the pre-Games focus on China‘s
rights record and pollution problems.
Nobody doubted that Sunday was Phelps’s day.
Blessed with an arm span bigger than his height, Phelps has pumped
himself up with hip-hop before races and always looks for his mother
in the stands at moments of triumph.
Phelps teamed up with backstroker Aaron Peirsol, breaststroker
Brendan Hansen and freestyler Jason Lezak to help the United
States smash the old men’s medley relay mark of three minutes
30.68 seconds with a winning time of 3:29.34 on Sunday.
All but one of his eight golds have come in world record times — and
the other was an Olympic best.
Phelps, who comes from Baltimore and had to overcome attention
deficit disorder in childhood, is now guaranteed a lifetime of multi-
million dollar corporate deals.
"I wanted to put my mind to it and wanted to do something that no
one ever did in sport," he added.
DR. NAVRAJ SINGH SANDHU