The Scores Report - The National Sports Blog » eight gold medals

Ato Boldon said something stupid today

John Paulsen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:42:49 +0000

Ato Boldon answered a question from Bob Costas about Usain Bolt’s terrific 100m world record run at the beginning of NBC’s primetime coverage on Monday night.

Costas: “How in the world was he able to run 9.69?”

Boldon: “I haven’t had a chance to really wrap my mind around it yet, but a lot of people are just still awestruck by what he was able to do. We just didn’t think that someone that tall would be able to run that sort of time. And… uh… just a great performance, and so far the performance, by far, of these Games.“

By far? Mr. Boldon, I’d like to introduce you to Michael Phelps. Not sure if you’ve heard, but he had a pretty good week in the pool.

ESPN’s conversation with Michael Phelps

John Paulsen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:05:37 +0000

Listen in as Michael Phelps talks to ESPN about his achievement at the Bejing Games, what’s in store for London in 2012 and, most importantly, what it feels like to have Chad Johnson challenge him to a race.

SI breaks down Phelps’ amazing finish frame-by-frame

John Paulsen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:00:04 +0000

Maybe the most memorable part of Michael Phelps’ wonderful Olympic run was the finish of the 100m butterfly. He won the race by 0.01 seconds, so the finish was too close to call even in slow motion. SI.com has a cool frame-by-frame breakdown of the last moments of the race.

Be sure to check out the whole thing, because it’s interesting to see how Phelps’ final half-stroke actually won him the race (when, at the time, he thought it was going to lose him the race). Here’s the final shot for those that still wonder if he was the first to touch the wall. Phelps is on the left.

The Phelps Dynasty overtakes China

Thomas Conroy — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:49:10 +0000

Cheering fellow American Jason Lezak anchor the U.S. individual relay team to a world record victory in the 400-meter medley, Michael Phelps captured his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics. He surpassed Mark Spitz’s mark of seven golds at the 1972 Munich Games.

This latest gold medal victory almost sunk before their eyes, as the Americans were in third place behind Japan and Australia going into Phelps’ leg of the race. He dove into the water, and powered the U.S. back in front with his butterfly stroke. Lezak held off Australia’s Eamon Sullivan to secure a world record time of 3:29.34 (Phelps’ seventh world record in Beijing).

Once the official results were posted on the board, it was celebration time for Phelps. And he could not contain himself, as Phelps slapped low-fives with his teammates and threw his arms in the air. He praised the support received from the U.S. swimming team because without them, none of his accomplishments would have been possible.

The final numbers for Phelps are five individual and three relay gold medals in Beijing. Thus far in his career, he has captured a total of 16 medals (14 gold). Phelps has become the all-time winningest Olympian, and the scary thing is, he has at least one more Olympics in him.