A memorable Olympics

It was to be China’s time to shine, a year of celebrations with the Olympic spirit touching the hearts and minds of one-fifth of the world’s population as the Olympics headed to Beijing.

Instead, months before the August 8-24 Games, human rights groups disrupted the globally televised torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia, setting off a chain of worldwide protests.

From Paris and London to San Francisco and Seoul, the Beijing Olympics torch relay became a target for human rights protesters as it meandered across the globe.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) faced mounting criticism and bad press for its decision to award the Games to China, given the country’s human rights record. “We are not an activist organisation,” IOC chief Jacques Rogge said, defending the decision and saying the Games would bring change to China.

The word “boycott” crept into discussions months before the Games but in the end none materialised. Even Iraq, temporarily suspended weeks before the Olympics, managed to send athletes to China. By the time the Olympics started with a record 204 teams from around the world parading in the spectacular Bird’s Nest stadium, both local organisers and the IOC were under intense media scrutiny.

Internet restrictions for foreign media, pro-Tibet protests and Beijing’s air quality grabbed the headlines in the days running up to the Games. However, the dazzling opening ceremony showcasing the might of modern China, which invested an estimated $40 billion to prepare for the Games, set the stage for memorable performances in breathtaking venues.

US swimmer Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals while Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt captured the 100 and 200 metres sprint double as well as a 4x100m relay gold in world record-breaking time.

Defending Olympic 110 metres hurdles champion Liu Xiang added drama when he hobbled off the track minutes before his first heat, stunning a capacity Bird’s Nest crowd. Team China, though, were unstoppable, topping the medals table with 51 golds, leaving the United States second with 36. Russia were third and Britain fourth .

The IOC saw record television audiences in most major markets and used the YouTube video-sharing website to post Olympic footage online, recording more than 16.5 million hits and unlocking the potential of new media to attract younger viewers. The opening ceremony alone was seen by 1.2 billion people around the world.

Doping concerns led to extensive pre-Games testing by federations and Olympic teams which rooted out some 50 cheats. An additional 5,000 tests were conducted during the Games, nabbing nine athletes, but the Games were spared the embarrassment and unwanted distraction of a major doping scandal.

The spotlight quickly switched to the 2012 Summer Games after the Beijing closing ceremony, with the British capital already struggling with its biggest project, the one-billion-pound Olympic village.

Michael Phelps recalls early years, Olympics in new book

The closest Michael Phelps' bid for an unprecedented eight Olympic gold medals came to being ruined was on one turn when he wasn't even in the pool.

In his book, "No Limits: The Will to Succeed", to be released in the US on Tuesday, Phelps recalls how American teammate Jason Lezak was nearly a full length behind Frenchman Alain Bernard on the final turn of the 400-meter freestyle relay at
the Beijing Olympics, putting his bid for a historic eighth gold medal in jeopardy.

But Bernard made "a stupid, and what would turn out to be colossal, mistake" that allowed Lezak to pull out an amazing comeback victory.

"After the flip, instead of swimming in the middle of his lane, he had drifted to the left," Phelps writes. "That meant that Jason, now to Bernard's left, could again tuck in behind him. Bernard was doing the hard work. Jason was cruising, preparing to slingshot by Bernard."

Lezak touched the wall first with the fastest relay split in history, helping the US win in a world-record time and give Phelps his second gold of the games.

In the book, co-authored by Alan Abrahamson of the NBCOlympics.com Web site, Phelps describes himself as a child who was given to whining and crying, and with his big ears and scrawny build, was constantly being picked on. In sixth grade, he was diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a doctor prescribed the stimulant Ritalin.

Phelps took three doses daily during the week, including a lunchtime dose that required a trip to the school nurse's office, which made him stand out among his classmates.

By seventh grade, Phelps told his mother he wanted to stop taking Ritalin. "I viewed it as an unnecessary crutch." he writes. He was later weaned off the medicine.

"I had proven to myself that I could set a goal and, through willpower and being mentally tough, not only meet that goal but beat it," he writes.

Phelps' mother, Debbie, became a recognizable face in the stands at the Water Cube during the Beijing Olympics. But his father, Fred, wasn't there and is never mentioned publicly by Phelps.

In the book, he offers a brief glimpse of their early years together, recalling how his father took him fishing and to Baltimore Orioles games.

"He taught me to look people in the eye when I was meeting them and to shake hands like I meant it," Phelps writes.

"Unquestionably, I inherited my competitive athletic drive from him. If I was playing sports, no matter what it was, my father's direction was simple: Go hard and, remember, good guys finish second."

Phelps' parents were high school sweethearts in a mill town in western Maryland. Fred Phelps, who had played small-college football, moved out of the family's home when Michael was seven, the same year he started swimming.

"As time went on, we spent less and less time together," Phelps writes. "Eventually, I stopped trying to include him in my activities and he, in turn, stopped trying to involve himself in mine."

Phelps writes that the last time he saw his father was at his sister Whitney's wedding in October 2005, and they didn't speak.

"There just hasn't been anything to say for a while," he writes. "Maybe there will be later."

In November 2004, a few months after winning six medals at the Athens Olympics, an under-21 Phelps was charged with drunken driving.

In the book he recounts how his first phone call was to his agent, rather than his mother or coach Bob Bowman, both of whom he said he knew would yell at him.

Later, he called Bowman, who was supportive but told him, "Michael, just because you want to blow off some steam doesn't mean you can be an idiot."

Debbie Phelps cried at the news.

"That hurt worse, maybe, than anything," Phelps writes. "I had never seen my mother that upset."

In Beijing, Phelps was asked after winning his sixth gold medal what he would say to people who suspected his feats were aided by doping.

"I know, for me, I am clean," he said. "I purposely wanted to do more tests to prove it."

Phelps, along with teammates Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin, volunteered for extra drug testing leading up to the Olympics.

From early June through the end of the games, Phelps said he was tested probably 25 to 30 times. He was tested daily at the US trials and at the games.

"I'm clean. Always have been, always will be. Facts are facts."

He and Bowman were "feeling slightly paranoid" before Phelps' first race in Beijing, the 400-meter individual medley. So Bowman made sure to keep Phelps' water bottle in his sights while his star swimmer warmed up.

"That way we could make extra certain no one was going to do anything outlandishly stupid like trying to poison me."

Phelps plans to return to training early next year in preparation for the world championships in Rome. He will be 27 at the 2012 London Olympics, which figure to be his last.

"My plan all along has been to be retired from swimming by the time I'm 30," he writes.

Michael Phelps Named 2008 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year

Sports Illustrated Group Editor Terry McDonell announced today that Michael Phelps is the 2008 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Phelps is SI's 55th Sportsman of the Year and joins Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, among other athletic greats who have received this award.

The SI Sportsman of the Year is presented annually to the person or team who transcended the year in both athletic performance and character. The descriptor, "It is not for the victory alone that he is honored. Rather, it is for the quality of his effort and the manner of his striving," lifted from the pages of SI in 1957, represents the defining principle of the award.

"Michael Phelps as the 2008 Sportsman of the Year was the easiest choice I have made," McDonell said. "Look at what he did in Beijing last summer. I was there. I saw him race after race, win again and again - we all saw that. And then to know him now -- it is so obvious that he changed not only swimming, but also the entire Olympic landscape."

Two thousand eight was a year of powerful moments in sports. The New York Giants' dramatic Super Bowl win, Tiger Woods' U.S. Open playoff victory on one leg, the Nadal/Federer Wimbledon final and a last-second shot in the NCAA men's basketball championship, but it was Phelps' unprecedented eight-gold- medal, seven-world-record achievement in Beijing under the intense spotlight of a global audience that rises above all.

Phelps will be honored at a ceremony in Manhattan this evening along with Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver -- the first recipient of the Sportsman of the Year Legacy Award -- and SI Kids' SportsKid of the Year, Derek Andrews.
"It is for elevating his sport -- and all of us out of our seats -- with a beguiling grace and humility that SI honors Phelps with its 55th Sportsman of the Year Award," writes Alan Shipnuck in his profile of Phelps. The magazine hits newsstands on Wednesday and marks Phelps's sixth appearance on the cover of SI.

In Beijing Phelps delivered a performance for the ages in breaking Mark Spitz's 36-year-old mark of seven gold medals in a single Olympiad. Phelps won individual gold in the 400-meter individual medley, 200-meter freestyle, 200- meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley and 100-meter butterfly to go along with team golds in the 4x100-meter freestyle, 4x200-meter freestyle and 4x100-meter medley relays. His 0.01-second victory over Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly and his U.S. team's come-from-behind triumph over France in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay provided two of the most iconic moments of the 2008 Summer Games.

Other athletes named Sportsman on the strength of their Olympic performance include Bobby Joe Morrow ('56), U.S. Olympic hockey team ('80), Edwin Moses and Mary Lou Retton ('84), Bonnie Blair and Johann Olav Koss ('94).
About Sports Illustrated

SI is a multimedia sports brand that takes the consumer into the heart and soul of sports. The SI franchise is anchored by Sports Illustrated, the most respected voice in sports journalism which reaches a weekly audience of nearly 21 million adults, and www.SI.com, the magazine's 24/7 sports news website that delivers more than 150 original stories to its users each week. The SI franchise also includes Sports Illustrated Kids ( www.sikids.com), a monthly magazine targeted to kids age 8 and up; Golf Magazine and www.Golf.com; www.FanNation.com, a social networking and sports-news aggregation platform; www.SIOncampus.com, a website dedicated to college sports and the college sports lifestyle; SI Presents, the magazine's specialty publishing division; as well as SI Books, SI Pictures, SI Productions, SI Digital and SI Events. Founded in 1954, SI is a division of Time Inc., the world's leading magazine publishing company and a subsidiary of Time Warner.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.si.com/sportsman

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Michael Phelps amazes world with Beijing eight

Swimmer Michael Phelps went on Sunday where no one has been before to win a record eighth gold at one Olympics and surpass Mark Spitz's famous 1972 feat.

The American stole the limelight even from Jamaican Usain Bolt's audaciously brilliant 100m win in the athletics showpiece that has been the Beijing Games' other defining moment so far.

On an unhappier note, American shooter Matt Emmons threw away gold for a second successive Games with a misfire on his final shot. He did the same four years ago in Athens by firing at the wrong target.

Phelps, 23, held his arms aloft and hugged team mates after a relatively easy men's 4x100 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," said Phelps, who as a child in Baltimore had a screaming fit at his first swimming lesson because he did not want to get his face wet.

Phelps' 14th career gold, after six in Athens, took him past fellow American Spitz's seven at one Games in Munich. He has five more than anyone else in the Olympics' 112-year history. "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."

Courtesy : Reuters

Food for fuel: Olympian Phelps' unusual diet

As US swimming sensation Michael Phelps sets his sights on more gold medal wins at the Beijing Olympics this weekend, the BBC's Michael Hirst examines the part an extraordinary diet has played in the sportsman's remarkable success.

If it is true that you are what you eat, then here is the suggested intake if you want to become history's most successful Olympian:

For breakfast: three fried egg sandwiches, with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, fried onions and mayonnaise, followed by three chocolate-chip pancakes; a five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast and a bowl of grits (a maize-based porridge), washed down with two cups of coffee.

For lunch: half a kilogram (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread smothered with mayonnaise, washed down by energy drinks.

For dinner: Another half-kilogram of pasta, perhaps with a carbonara sauce, followed by a large pizza and more energy drinks.

That combination may not sound very healthy, and at a staggering 10,000 calories, would feed five average men for a day.

But the menu is reportedly all in a training day's eating for champion swimmer Michael Phelps, who won six gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics and is aiming for eight this time round.

"Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do," said the US swimmer, after winning his 11th Olympic gold.

Judging by the amount he eats and swims, that is not altogether surprising.

Fruit and veg

Even though the 23-year-old spends a solid five hours of each day burning off those calories, the diet still seems excessive. Is he following some sort of dietician guru's programme?

Barbara Lewin, a nutritionist who has advised international athletes on their dietary health for almost two decades, thinks not.

"Health-wise, if he were eating like this long-term, he'd probably be having to see a cardiologist regularly," Mrs Lewin told the BBC.

She recommended cutting out the egg yolks, replacing the white bread with whole-wheat, throwing some fruit and vegetables into the mix, and spreading the food out over the day with regular snacking.

But while the quality of the calories consumed by the six-foot four-inch (1.93m) swimmer may not seem healthy, Ms Lewin suggested there are good reasons behind Mr Phelps' diet.

"I've worked with more than 1,000 endurance athletes - swimmers and runners - and one of the most common problems they have is glycogen depletion - the result of not getting enough carbohydrates," she said.

"Nine out of 10 times the reason an athlete doesn't reach their personal best is because they're not getting enough carbohydrates and that's what your muscles need for food."

Carb counting

Phelps won his sixth gold medal in Beijing in the 200m medley on Friday, and will be aiming to equal fellow American Mark Spitz's record of winning seven gold medals in a single Olympic games when he takes to the pool for Saturday's 100m fly.

Fat pile-on

The Phelps diet is not recommended for everyone. Due to his muscle-intensive physique, the swimmer's metabolism - the process of converting food into energy - far exceeds that of a more average man, said Jeff Kotterman, director of the US National Association of Sports Nutrition.


Courtesy : BBC NEWS

Michael Phelps wins historic eighth gold

Michael Phelps won his eighth Olympic gold medal of the Beijing Games to beat Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven, with victory in the 4x100m medley.

The 23-year-old teamed up with Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak to claim the historic gold in a new world record time.

They held off Australia and Japan to win in a world record time of three minutes 29.34 seconds.

Britain finished in sixth, but the race was all about Phelps' place in history.

Phelps, who swam 17 times over nine days and set world records in seven finals, had already won the 400m medley, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 4x100m free relay, 4x200m free relay, 200m medley and the 100m butterfly.

Victory in the 4x100m relay rounded off a remarkable Olympics for Phelps, who has dominated the action in the Water Cube.

However, his final triumph was far from straightforward.

Phelps dived into the water for the third leg butterfly with his team in third position but he powered them into the lead.

Australian Eamon Sullivan tried to chase the Americans down but Lezak held on to clinch Phelps' record win.

It also took Phelps' Olympic medal haul to 14 golds, and 16 overall.

Phelps admitted to being overwhelmed after achieving his feat, and was quick to pay tribute to his team-mates.

"I don't even know what to feel right now," Phelps said.
"There are so many emotions going through my head and so much excitement. I kind of just want to see my mom.

"Without the help of my team-mates this isn't possible.

"I was able to be a part of three relays and we were able to put up a solid team effort and we came together as one unit.

"For the three Olympics I've been a part of, this is by far the closest men's team that we've ever had.

"I didn't know everybody coming into this Olympics, but I feel going out I know every single person very well. The team that we had is the difference.

"Nothing is impossible.

"With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination, and that's something I learned and something that helped me.

"It's been nothing but an upwards roller-coaster and it's been nothing but fun."

His team-mate Peirsol added: "It's a beautiful thing, I am so proud to be a part of this relay team.

"It wasn't like we were doing this for Michael, but it's an honour to be part of it. It would have been something if we hadn't done it."


Courtesy : BBC NEWS

Michael Phelps equals Spitz's gold medal record

American Michael Phelps won his seventh gold on Saturday in the Men's 100m Butterfly final at the National Aquatics Center, to equal Mark Spitz (USA) as the only person ever to have won seven gold medals at a summer Olympic Games.

But Phelps had to survive a big scare from unheralded Serbian Milorad Cavic to do it.

Phelps won in an Olympic record time of 50.58, to take his gold medal tally to seven, but by the slimmest of margins - 0.01 seconds. He had a huge battle on his hands after Cavic touched first on the 50m mark at 0.09sec under the world record.

Phelps and Cavic battled it out in the last 50m. A monumental upset looked to be approaching - until Phelps dug deep and out-touched Cavic on the wall.

Cavic finished with the silver medal in a time of 50.59.

Australia's Andrew Lauterstein won the bronze medal in 51.12. World record holder Ian Crocker of the United States swam in fourth place at 51.13.

Michael Phelps: The greatest Olympian of all time

Michael Phelps (Photo credit: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

The deep gulps of air and fighting back of tears as Michael Phelps stood proudly upon the podium as US anthem the Star Spangled Banner rang around the Water Cube said it all.

It is a sound the 23-year-old American swimmer knows all too well. After winning the Men's 200 meters Butterfly final -- Phelps's fourth gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games, each on a world record time -- another superlative can justifiably be added to the growing list of adjectives used to describe this amazing athlete: legend.

Phelps powered his way into Olympic history at Beijing 2008 to become the first person to ever win 10 Olympic gold medals. "I just kept thinking wow, I'm the greatest Olympian of all time, It's a pretty great title. It's pretty neat, I'm definitely honored."

"Listening to the anthem, with the medal around your neck is an amazing feeling," said Phelps, after his tenth record medal. "I am almost at a loss for words. Growing up I always wanted to be an Olympian."

He is the classic wholesome all-American boy who, for an added twist of tension, even had the audacity to win the 200 meters Butterfly despite a goggle malfunction which affected his vision.

"When my goggles filled up there was nothing I could do. All I could do at that point was swim. I tried to see something at the 150 wall. I tried to see the T on the bottom to judge my turn. I was more or less trying to count my strokes, hoping I was dead on. I'm just disappointed because I know I can go faster than that."

Courtesy : www.en.beijing2008.cn

Mother's Pride : Michael Phelps

Mother's pride: Deborah Phelps kisses her son Michael Phelps after the men's 4x200m freestyle relay swimming final at the National Aquatics Center during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Courtesy www.hindustantimes.com

Michael Phelps makes history with 11 career Olympic gold medals

Michael Phelps poses with the gold medal (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

After cruising to a world record win in the Men's 200m Butterfly on Wednesday morning, US swimming powerhouse Michael Phelps became the greatest Olympian of all time, with 10 Olympic gold medals under his belt.

Just an hour later, one more gold was added to Phelps's huge medal collection, as his teammate Peter Vanderkaay touched the final wall over four seconds ahead of the previous world record in the Men's 200m Freestyle Relay. After a day's rest, Phelps will continue his eight-gold quest at the Water Cube.

Michael Phelps became the most successfull olympian Ever

US swimmer Michael Phelps broke the record for Olympic gold medals won by taking his 10th and 11th in a double victory on Wednesday.

Phelps, 23, won his fourth gold of the Beijing Olympics and 10th of all time with victory in the 200m butterfly.

And he claimed yet another gold as part of the US 4x200m freestyle team.

Phelps has now surpassed the nine golds won by Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina to cement his place in Olympic history.

He is also bidding to beat Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympic games and has moved to within three of that achievement.

The US star swims in the individual medley, 100m butterfly and finally the 4x100m medley relay later in the week.

Phelps began proceedings in the Water Cube on Wednesday in typical fashion, beating Hungary's Laszlo Cseh and Japan's Takeshi Matsuda in a world record time of 1:52.03 to claim 200m butterfly gold.

He looked slightly underwhelmed following the victory, despite the magnitude of his achievement, and revealed that a pair of leaky goggles almost scuppered his chances of glory.


And along with US team-mates Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay, Phelps later claimed relay gold in the 4x200m freestlyle in another world record time of 6:58.56secs.

Russia took the silver and Australia the bronze, while Great Britain's four came in sixth.