Michael Phelps was named Athlete of the Year last night by USA Swimming at the annual Golden Goggle Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in the pool for American athletes.

Phelps was something of a shoo-in for the award after winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, but the 23-year-old Fells Point resident was happy to take a night off from his busy traveling schedule to celebrate the honor.

He also received an award for Performance of the Year for his victory in the 100-meter butterfly, as well as one for being a part of the men’s 400relay.

“It’s been an awesome run,” Phelps said. “I’ve had so much support, from my family, my coach and my friends. My coach, in particular, has put up with a lot. I look forward to seeing what we can do in the future.”
Phelps took some time to talk about his business partnership with his coach, Bob Bowman, and the recent announcement that the duo had purchased the business side of the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, as well as control of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. It’s something Bowman and Phelps had talked about for more than a year before deciding to go forward with their plan.

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After he hosts NBC’s Saturday Night Live this weekend, there might not be much more the network can squeeze out of Michael Phelps.
For now, anyway. Phelps’ historic eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympics were the driving force behind NBC’s prime-time Olympic ratings, just as Phelps’ six golds in Athens were the key to NBC’s 2004 Olympic ratings. NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol told The New York Times that after NBC gained Olympic officials’ support in its bid to have swimming finals moved from evenings to mornings so they could be shown live in prime time on the East Coast, the “first outsider” he consulted was Phelps, who was agreeable. After Phelps worked his way through various NBC outlets — this week giving Jay Leno his best rating in nearly three months — it was inevitable he’d end up on SNL.
But even though rehearsals have left Phelps “completely confident” about hosting SNL, he also says he’s “more nervous doing this than swimming in Beijing, I’ll tell you that.” Not to worry, says SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels: “No matter what happens, they can’t take those medals away.”
Phelps says he enjoys watching SNL when he can stay up to watch, adding he grew up as a “huge, huge fan” of the late SNL comic Chris Farley — who skated with Olympian Nancy Kerrigan when she hosted SNL— and that Farley’s Tommy Boy is his favorite movie.
Phelps says he has a funny side the public hasn’t seen: “In my group of friends, I’m one of the most sarcastic. … I’m actually a really, really sarcastic guy.” (And he didn’t sound sarcastic saying that.)
In hosting SNL, whose stage was used for NBC’s coverage of some Beijing Olympics action as announcers called events off TV monitors, Phelps joins a long line of athlete-hosts, including LeBron James and Peyton Manning in 2007. Charles Barkley mauled Barney the purple dinosaur on a basketball court. Tom Brady appeared in his underwear for a mock sexual harassment training video. Michael Jordan danced in a hula skirt. Says Phelps: “I’m just looking forward to having fun.”
Michaels says Amy Poehler played Phelps’ mother in rehearsals, although it’s still unclear which skits will appear on the show. Michaels added it’s possible Tina Fey will play GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. But don’t expect Phelps to perform anything that suggests his political preferences: “I’ve tried to stay away from jumping on political bandwagons. That’s something I try to keep to myself.”
Asked if future SNL shows might include Beijing Olympians, Michaels says probably not. Instead, “we’ll start thinking about 2010″ — meaning the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
Think NBC is asking Phelps if he snowboards?

from: usatoday.com

Natalie Du Toit won the 100-meter butterfly gold medal at the Beijing Paralympics on Sunday, less than three weeks after her open-water Olympic swim in which she finished 16th in a race beset by problems.

The South African, who won five golds and a silver in the Athens Paralympics, finished in 1 minute, 6.74 seconds — a world record for her disability class.

A swimmer with Olympic promise, Du Toit lost her left leg above the knee in a 2001 motorcycle crash. She qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the 10-kilometer swim, a race in which her cap came off as she brushed the buoy on the first turn. Du Toit struggled the rest of the way with hair in her eyes, stopping at times to fix the cap.

“It’s been a bit of a rough ride from before the Olympics until now,” Du Toit said. “It’s awesome. Finally I’m swimming a bit faster, which is great.”

Du Toit will try for five golds in Beijing.

“Hopefully I’ll come back with five,” she said. “But there are going to be one or two races that are tight.”

Du Toit said her Olympic training was less than ideal, and the 10K race was about as bad as it could have been.

“I panicked,” she said. “I should have stopped and put the cap on properly. For 10 kilometers I stopped three times every lap trying to put my cap on. It wasn’t the best race and from lap one. I was swearing at myself.”

Sixteen gold medals in swimming were up for grabs Sunday in the Paralympics, with 11 others awarded in shooting, judo and cycling.

The United States won four gold medals in swimming on the opening day, the most of any country. The winners were: Erin Popovich, Rudy Garcia-Tolson, Miranda Uhl and Jessica Long.

Veronika Vadovicova of Slovakia won the first gold medal of the Paralympics, taking the women’s 10-meter air rifle (standing position) early in the day. Manuela Schmermund of Germany won the silver and Nilda Gomez Lopez of Puerto Rico the bronze.

Britain won the first medal in cycling with gold for Simon Richardson in the 1-kilometer time trial. Masaki Fujita of Japan was second and defending Paralympic champion Greg Ball of Australia was third.

China won two of the four gold medals in judo with victories by Guo Huaping (women’s 48 kilograms) and Cui Na (women’s 52 kilos).

The futuristic aquatic venue Water Cube witnessed the tumble of 15 swimming world records at the Beijing Paralympic Games here on Sunday.

Rudy Garcia Tolson, who refreshed the world record in 2 minutes 37.80 seconds at men’s 200m individual medley SM7 in the morning’s heat, equaled his own mark in the finals and clinched the gold for the United States.

“I got some rest, I got some food and I mentally prepared for the final race. It has been a great experience.

“I swam my best race, I really focused on my race, not my competition, and not what’s beside me. I definitely have more in the tank.” said the American.

In women’s 100m butterfly S8, Rudy’s compatriot Amanda Everlove also updated the world record in the heat but failed to repeat her good shape in the evening’s final.

She finished second in 1:12.16, a shy of 0.48 seconds for her morning’s new world mark. Fortunately, her teammate Jessica Long wrapped up the gold by a winning margin of 0.20 seconds.

The Americans showed their dominance in the women’s 200m individual events. Miranda Uhl and Erin Popovich each shattered the world record in SM6 and SM7 class successively. Four golds with four new records put USA to the top of medal standings after Sunday’s competitions.

For the hosts, Du Jianping’s gold medal was much more important than his world record breaking show. His victory in men’s 100m freestyle at S3 class gifted the hosts their first gold at the Beijing Paralympics.

The 25-year-old Du, who set a new Paralympic record in the morning’s heat at 1 minute and 42.95 seconds, took the winning time further down to 1:35.21 in the finals, shaving 5.87 seconds of the former world mark.

“I only won a silver last time, missing the gold, which I had wanted badly for three years. This time I competed on the home ground and it made me feel more excited and special,” said the winner.

Du’s harvest was also the hosts’ only gold medal on the first day of swimming contest. China took the second place on the gold medal tally with one gold, four silvers and five bronzes.

Australia finished the third place with two silvers less than China but their ace swimmer Peter Leek beat the host’s favorite Wang Xiaofu in men’s 100m butterfly S8.

The in-form Aussie not only won the gold, also refreshed the world record twice of the day.

“I knew I could break the record again. It was great, I was feeling fairly nervous before the race.

“I have been waiting for this moment and it has finally come. It has been very hard. It has been 18 years of hard work, but when you win that Gold medal it feels like it all pays off.” said the beaming winner with tears swelling in the eyes after the clash.

The other eight new world records were created by Patricia Valle of Mexico, Tamas Sors of Hungary (twice), Dmitry Kokarev of Russia, Dzmitry Salei of Belarus, Daniel Dias of Britain, Teresa Maria Perales of Spain, and Du Toit Natalie of South Africa.

Beijing Paralympic swimming competitions have attracted 560 athletes in 81 men’s and 59 women’s events.

The nine-day contest, held at the National Aquatics Centre “Water Cube”, runs from September 7 to 15.

source: xinhuanet.com

Michael Phelps

NEWS: Olympian Michael Phelps announced this morning that he will put part of his $1 million bonus for tying Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals into a foundation to encourage the growth of swimming.

Phelps earned the bonus from Speedo after he tied Spitz’s 36-year record of seven gold medals in a single Games. He then beat the mark, winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics last month.

This morning, the 23-year-old Baltimorean told NBC’s “Today Show” host Matt Lauer that he will travel to eight cities in the United States to promote swimming among children.

The brief TV announcement did not address whether his plans to promote swimming would involve buying North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Meadowbrook pool. Last month, Phelps told NBC’s Nightly News that he and coach Bob Bowman had bought a pool in Baltimore and were looking to change the sport of swimming. Bowman was named NBAC’s chief executive officer and is expected to start the job this month.

from: baltimoresun.com

His phenomenal swimming performance was in the books, and not even Michael Phelps himself was interested in watching the rest of the Olympic Games.
Asked if he would stay in Beijing for the Closing Ceremony, a week after his final race, Phelps said, “I have some other things . . . obligations that I’ve got to do.”
So while Phelps attends to sponsor promotions, the Games organizers and NBC Sports are committed to playing out the schedule through Sunday. It’s just that without him, the 2008 Olympics are limping toward the finish.
That’s more than an expression, in China’s case. Track hurdler Liu Xiang, a defending Olympic champion and a Yao Ming-sized star in this country, pulled out of his 110-meter heat Monday because of a foot injury. He walked slowly away from the starting blocks and off the track, taking the hopes and years-long anticipation of China with him into the tunnel of the “Bird’s Nest” stadium.
The Chinese still have Yao and his basketball team, which qualified for the quarterfinals, but Liu’s absence causes “major trauma,” said Jamie Metzl, an executive of the New York-based Asia Society.
“It is impossible to overstate the impact of Liu Xiang to the people of China,” said Metzl, a former State Department official. He had predicted if Liu lost his final race, “you would feel the air going out of the stomachs of 1.3 billion people.”
That may describe how NBC executives felt when Phelps climbed out of the pool for the last time. The network was enjoying a record pace for Olympic ratings, averaging some 30 million viewers nightly as Phelps was shown live (or close to it) in U.S. markets, winning a record eight gold medals while competing in the mornings in Beijing.
The American women’s gymnasts also helped boost the ratings, and they’re down to one event: All-around champion Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson will compete Tuesday on the balance beam.
So what’s left after that? Not much. There’s still some drama in the gold medal count, being led by China, but few high-profile contests will spice the competition. Track and basketball usually drive the second week of the Summer Games. With Liu out, the biggest track event is Wednesday’s 200 meters, with Jamaica’s Usain Bolt attempting to duplicate his world-record performance in winning the 100 last weekend.
For Utahns, there’s intrigue in Wednesday’s quarterfinal basketball game, featuring former University of Utah center Andrew Bogut of Australia against the U.S. team with Jazz players Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. But the Americans have played so well, in contrast to 2004, that little mystery remains in the tournament. What’s more, Sunday’s gold medal game begins at 12:30 a.m. Utah time.
At this point, NBC’s best strategy might be to superimpose an image of Phelps swimming alongside sailing vessels or canoe paddlers, or just show a lot of beach volleyball.

from: sltrib.com

Japan’s double Olympic gold medallist Kosuke Kitajima is hoping Michael Phelps will steer clear of breaststroke when he takes up new events.

“Phelps in breaststroke? That would be the last thing I’d like to see,” said Kitajima, who won the breaststroke “double-double” in winning the 100 and 200 event for a second successive Olympics.

“I really hope not to see that happening,” he added.

After winning a record eight gold medals last week in freestyle, butterfly, individual medley and relays, the American said he planned to take up new events.

Breaststroke, however, is his weakest discipline and he is pondering taking up backstroke events and the 100 freestyle.

Kitajima, who is considering retiring from the sport, said he was in awe of what Phelps had done in Beijing.

“His achievements are just beyond description, and the whole world recognises his ability,” added Kitajima, who also won a bronze medal in the 4×100 medley relay.

“I have great respect for him. We are both athletes, but I’m also a fan of his.

“Being able to stand on the same podium as Phelps …was indeed a great joy for me.”

from: reuters.com

Michael Phelps said rest was the first thing on his agenda in the wake of his epic Olympic performance in Beijing, before he and coach Bob Bowman chart a new course for London 2012.
Despite his remarkable achievement – an unprecedented eight gold medals in nine days to take his career total to a record 14 Olympic titles – Phelps says there is plenty left to do to achieve his goal of changing the sport of swimming in the United States.
“There are some things I still want to do to raise the bar a bit more in the world of swimming,” Phelps said. “For me, it’s still work in progress.”
But Phelps, whose Beijing programme matched his schedule in Athens, will spring something new on the world of swimming in London.
He hadn’t even dried off after winning the 400m individual medley here when he said he was through with that event – although coach Bob Bowman may have other plans.
“I would say I would like to go down and start sprinting, but Bob isn’t so keen on that,” said Phelps, who showed in Beijing just how dangerous he could come to be in swimming’s shorter races.
Phelps swam the lead-off leg of the 4×100m freestyle relay in 47.51sec, making him the third-fastest performer in history in the prestige event behind current world record-holder Eamon Sullivan and former world record-holder Alain Bernard of France.
Phelps was also the second-ranked swimmer in the world in the 100m and 200m backstroke in 2007 – one of the top performers all time in each event although neither was on his Beijing programme.
“We’ll see how keen he is on going to the sprints,” Bowman said. “There is more and different training. He’s more naturally suited to longer events.”
Phelps said he and Bowman would experiment a little, as they did at the 2005 world championships in Montreal in the wake of his impressive Athens Games.
“I think over the next four years, I would like to try new events and see what happens.
“Bob has said he wants to start fresh and do things he hasn’t done before, new training methods and stuff like that.”
After moving from his hometown of Baltimore, following Bowman to a coaching job in Michigan, both are planning a return to Maryland.
“We are going to look at some different events, mix up the training programme a little bit and do some experimenting,” Bowman said. “We have plenty of time and we will look at reinventing ourselves.
“We have accomplished this set of goals and I would dare to venture to say we are not going to do it again, at least not like this.
“We will start coming up with some goals that excite him and start working towards them.”
But first, Phelps said a little vacation was in order.
“It’s something I haven’t done for a long time,” he said. “I am looking forward to seeing friends, hanging out and sitting down. Not moving.
“Bob has a saying about putting money in the bank and this week was about making withdrawals. I guess I’ve gotten through every penny. Now it’s time to start making redeposits.”
But Phelps won’t rest too long, especially since his over-arching aim is to raise the profile of swimming in his home country so that it can garner headlines outside of Olympic years.
“I don’t want this sport to be an every four year sport,” he said. “We get lots of attention every four years, but for the rest of that time there is really not a lot of attention.
“We swim every single day, there is never really an off-season. I just want more people to get involved in the sport and I think it will happen in the next four years.”
Besides, Phelps can’t take too much time off, since he has to book a spot in the 2009 World Championships in Rome.
“My mom has told me I have to make the (US) team so she can go to Rome,” Phelps said. – AFP

from: nst.com.my

Michael Phelps on Sunday broke the record for the most number of gold medals at an individual Olympic Games as he helped the US team win the 4×100m medley relay.

Phelps broke the record previously held by American swimmer Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in 1972.

The US won in a world record time of 3:29.34, beating their own world record from 2004 by 1.34 seconds.

Silver went to Australia in 3:30.04, who were also under the old best mark, while Japan took bronze in 3:31.18.

It was the 25th world record broken in the Beijing Water Cube at the Olympics and came in the final swim of the swimming competition.

Phelps finally cracked on Sunday when he was presented with a certificate to show that he had won an unprecedented eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

Phelps started crying and sheepishly looked towards he team-mates when the president of the sport’s controlling body FINA, Mustapha Larfaoui, gave the 23-year-old the certificate during the medal celebration for the men’s 4×100m individual medley, which the US team won in world record time.

The rousing applause he received from the 11,000 spectators in the Beijing Water Cube brought more tears to his eyes and it was only when the US flag was raised and the national anthem played that Phelps composed himself and broke into a broad smile.

from: bangkokpost.com

Harry Potter has helped a Norwegian swimmer earn a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Sara Nordenstam puts her bronze medal in the women’s 200 breaststroke down to J.K. Rowling’s books about a teenage wizard which helped her to relax before her big moment.

“I was very nervous and needed something to calm me down and I listen to the Harry Potter books because your mind goes off to a magical world and it’s great because I was able to keep my nerves in control,” she is reported as telling the media.

“I have read them all, I have seen all the movies and I have listened to the audio books as well. It worked really well today,” she said.

from: pendletoday.co.uk

FRESH from grabbing his second bronze medal of the Olympics, Australia’s Andrew Lauterstein has told of his desire to crush Michael Phelps’ dream of a record eighth gold medal in tomorrow’s 4×100m medley relay. Phelps’ moment of truth will be revealed tomorrow when he shoots for his final gold medal in the medley relay, with Australia, according to Lauterstein, desperate to wreck his party.

The Australian team is likely to feature Lauterstein, Eamon Sullivan, Brenton Rickard and Hayden Stoeckel, all medallists in invididual events this week.

“All four swimmers have broken the Australian record, all are Olympic medallists so hopefully we can walk away with a medal,” Lauterstein said.

“We’re going to give the Americans a good shake, hopefully stop Phelpsy from getting his eighth gold.

“That’s the plan.”

Phelps is concern ed about the Australian team and heard Lauterstein’s warning.

The American said today: ”The Australians are our biggest opponents.”

Lauterstein was buzzing after claiming his second bronze of the week in today’s 100m butterfly final.

Earlier in the week he was part of Australia’s 4×100m freestyle relay team which finished third behind the US and France.

The 21-year-old was well beaten by Phelps who touched out Serbia’s Milorad Cavic by .01sec in the closest of finishes.

Phelps’ victory meant he equalled Mark Spitz’s record of seven Olympic gold medals at the one Games, winning the event in Olympic record time of 50.58secs.

Phelps never looked like winning after turning in seventh place but he finished like Bernborough to pip the Serbian, who later fired in a protest thinking the touch pads were faulty, but it was dismissed quickly.

Lauterstein claimed a big scalp in the race when world record holder Ian Crocker of the US finished fourth.

“It was just a great race to be a part of, it was an absolute spectacle,” Lauterstein said.

“I said it yesterday, when you hear Michael Phelps do his arm slaps it get’s your heart rate racing.

“So to handle the pressure again and come out and do another PB, that’s three PB’s in three swims, is pretty special.”

Lauterstein said he was oblivious to the amazing performance of Phelps.

“I had no idea…I knew that I wasn’t winning,” Lauterstein said.

“I could see the guy next to me out ahead of me and I could feel the Kenyan right next to me but apart from that I had no idea.”

An emotional Lauterstein also told how he savoured the moment of his first individual Olympic medal.

“I made Michael laugh on the way out to the medal ceremony by telling him to ‘really enjoy it mate”’, Lauterstein said.

“I couldn’t believe I was about to cry when I heard the American national anthem.

“I don’t a have a very good memory, so I just tried to take everything in.”

from: news.com.au

Even Michael Phelps couldn’t believe his eyes. He said he had to take off his goggles to make sure it was his name, and not Milorad Cavic, next to the No. 1 after a thrilling finish in the Olympic 100-meter butterfly.

Phelps, who was in seventh place at the turn, surged in the final few meters and somehow managed to out-touch the Serbian-American Cavic by a hundredth of a second. To the naked eye, it was nearly impossible to tell who won. And from some camera angles, it appeared Cavic had the gold. But the Omega electronic clock read: Phelps 50.58. Cavic 50.59.

The Serbian team was disputing the result, but FINA officials met with team leaders after the race and reviewed the video footage. The Serbians accepted the result after seeing the tape.

Cavic was gracious in defeat and said he was “honored” to be the guy who almost beat Phelps.

It was Phelps’ seventh gold medal at these Olympics, which ties Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record from Munich. He will attempt to break the record Sunday morning in the 4×100 medley relay.

Phelps was humbled to be on the same seven-gold pedestal as Spitz.

“The biggest thing is when someone says you can’t do things, when people say it’s impossible to tie or break these records, I proved anything’s possible,” he said. “If you put in the hard work and put your mind to it, anything’s possible.”

This time, there was no world record, as there had been for Phelps’ previous six golds. Instead, the Baltimore phenom proved he can win in the tightest of races. Phelps made up ground in the final 50, and took an extra half-stroke at the finish, which would seem to have hurt him as Cavic’s hands were already underwater gliding to the wall. But Phelps’ extra kick surged him forward with force at the touchpad.

“When I saw the replay, when I saw I took that extra half stroke, I thought I lost the race,” Phelps said. “But I guess that’s exactly what I needed. I’m at a loss for words. I’m excited and relieved. It wasn’t until I saw the No. 1 next to my name that I let out my roar.”

The lucky seventh gold also meant a $1 million bonus from Speedo, one of his many sponsors.

All the talk heading into the Olympics was that fellow-American and world-record holder Ian Crocker could spoil Phelps’ pool party in this event, but around the pool deck the past few days, the buzz was about Cavic. The Anaheim, Calif., native and Cal-Berkeley student set an Olympic record in the preliminary heats in 50.76 seconds, and swam the fastest semifinal time (50.92).

Cavic’s times were particularly impressive considering that Phelps and Crocker held the top 17 times in the event heading into the Olympics. Cavic, who is 6-foot-6, said after the semifinals that he was hoping to derail Phelps so that one day people would say, “Phelps had a chance to win eight and lost to some guy.” Cavic desperately wanted to be that guy.

Instead, he has to settle for the silver. Andrew Lauterstein of Australia won the bronze. Crocker finished fourth.

Cavic said the difference between he and Phelps was as tiny as “shaving your fingers.” Swimming results can be so close, he said, that his coach cleaned up the hairs on the back of Cavic’s neck with clippers just before the race. “Those are the differences in swimming. Everything counts. You can’t even show one one-hundredth of a second on TV. It’s that close.”

Cavic was not surprised Phelps made his move at the end. In fact, he expected it.

“I knew I was leading the race. I usually swim a faster first 50 and Phelps is a back-half swimmer, so I knew he’d be chasing me at the end. I saw a shadow in the side of my goggles, so the final eight meters I just put my head down, didn’t breathe, and hoped for the best.”

When a Serbian reporter asked Cavic, “How does it feel to be the one man who beat Phelps?” Cavic smiled and replied: “I didn’t beat Phelps. Maybe I’m the only guy who had a real shot of beating Phelps. This is all completely new to me. I felt so much pressure, and I’m very proud I was able to control my emotions and get so close. It was an honor for me to race Michael Phelps with all eyes on me. If we got to do it again, I’d win it.”

Crocker, the quiet, unassuming rival from Portland, Maine, also wanted to be “that guy” who ruined Phelps’ day. So much so, in fact, that he put all his efforts into the 100-meter butterfly rather than race in multiple events. Crocker beat Phelps to win the world titles in 2003 and 2005, and set the world record (50.40) in 2005.

But Phelps beat Crocker in the 2004 Olympics by .04 seconds and edged him again in the 2007 world championships by .05 seconds.

Crocker : “Sports is all about one person trying to derail the other person’s dreams.”

As usual, Phelps’ quest for history overshadowed the other events at The Water Cube on Saturday.

Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho set an Olympic record and won gold in the 50-meter freestyle, beating a pair of Frenchmen – Amaury Leveaux and Alain Bernard. He is Brazil’s first Olympic swimming gold medalist. Filho won the race in 21.30 seconds, lowering the mark of 21.34 he set in the semifinals.

It was Filho’s second medal of the Games. He tied U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak for the bronze in the 100-meter freestyle. Filho, 21, is a student at Auburn University.

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe set a world record in the women’s 200-meter backstroke in 2:05.24. Margaret Hoelzer of the United States won silver.

And in the women’s 800, Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington set a world record en route to a gold medal.

from: macon.com

Look out, Mark Spitz. Get the cheque ready, Speedo. Michael Phelps is closing in – quickly, of course.

Phelps made it six gold medals in six races, each in world record time, by taking the 200-metre individual medley Friday at the Beijing Olympics.

If he wins either of his last two races, he’ll join Spitz as the only Olympians to win seven golds at one Summer Games and cash a US$1-million bonus from his sponsor.

Should he win both, Phelps will stand alone as the greatest Olympic champ for both a single Games and for his career. This was his 12th gold overall, pulling him farther from Spitz and three others with nine. At only 23, he could end up doubling the longstanding career mark at London in 2012. Who would bet against him after this week?

Phelps dominated right from the start of the 200-metre individual medley and won in one minute 54.23 seconds. He knocked off his own mark of 1:54.80 set at last month’s U.S. trials, his sixth world record of the Games.

Phelps returned right after the medal ceremony for the 100 butterfly semifinal, where he qualified second-fastest and set himself to tie Spitz’s total in the final on Saturday. He could break the record if the heavily favoured U.S. wins the 4×100-metre medley relay on Sunday.

“There wasn’t much time,” Phelps said, “but I think there’s going to be a lot of time for me to rest over the next 18 hours or so, and I’ll be able to be ready for tomorrow morning’s 100.”

Rebecca Soni of the U.S., set a world record in the 200 breaststroke. Leisel Jones of Australia was out front over the first 100, but Soni came on strong at the end, finishing a full body length ahead of the Australian in 2:20.22 to beat Jones’ mark of 2:20.54, set two 2 1/2 years ago in Melbourne.

Britta Steffen of Germany won the 100 freestyle, edging Libby Trickett of Australia by four-hundredths of a second.

Nastia Liukin edged U.S. teammate Shawn Johnson for the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics and Yang Yilin of China took the bronze.

Athletics cranked up at the Bird’s Nest, with some pretty heady qualifying races – the men’s 100 metres.

Tyson Gay showed no ill effects from a lingering hamstring strain, easily qualifying for the quarter-final along with Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.

“It feels good,” Gay said. “My body is woke up.”

Gay’s reassuring performance kept the Games on track for a defining three-way battle for gold in the sport’s marquee event on Saturday.

Bolt won his heat in 10.20, and Powell coasted into the quarter-final in 10.16.

The Games were hit by several off-field controversies Friday. A two-time North Korean medallist in shooting and a Vietnamese gymnast both failed doping tests and were kicked out of the Games after testing positive for banned substances.

Shooter Kim Jong Su was stripped of his silver medal Friday in the 50-metre pistol and bronze in the 10-metre air pistol. Gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do finished in 82nd and last place in the women’s floor exercises. Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno was kicked out of the Games on Monday after testing positive for EPO.

A Swedish wrestler who dropped his bronze medal in disgust could face sanctions from the IOC, which has opened a disciplinary investigation into the actions of Ara Abrahamian. He lost to gold medallist Andrea Minguzzi of Italy in the semifinal of the men’s 84-kilogram Greco-Roman event.

During the medal ceremony, Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck and, in disgust, dropped it on the mat as he walked away.

Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after the matside officials following his loss to Minguzzi and, storming away from the mixed zone where interviews are conducted, slammed a door.

Pavol and Peter Hochschorner finished first in double canoe slalom, making it three straight Olympics that the brothers from Slovakia have won gold. Elena Kaliska of Slovakia won the women’s single kayak slalom by nearly 15 seconds, successfully defending her gold from Athens.

Cao Lei won China’s seventh weightlifting gold medal and smashed three Olympic records in the women’s 75-kg division. Artur Ayvazian of Ukraine won gold in the men’s 50-metre prone rifle, holding off Matt Emmons of the U.S., in the final round.

Guo Jingjing kept China on its path toward a sweep of all eight diving gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, leading after the women’s three-metre springboard preliminaries Friday. The final is Sunday.

The U.S. women’s softball team extended its winning streak to 18 with an 8-1 victory over Canada. China rallied to beat Taiwan 8-7 in 12 innings in the baseball tournament.

Top-seeded Xie Xingfang and defending champion Zhang Ning both advanced to the women’s singles badminton final, assuring China the gold and silver medals.

from: canadianpress.google.com

Stephanie Rice grabbed her third gold medal at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday when she helped the Australian women’s 4×200 metres freestyle relay team obliterate the world record by nearly six seconds.

Rice teamed up with Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie to demolish the old record and claim the gold in seven minutes 44.31 seconds. The previous record, set by the United States, was 7:50.09.

China, still celebrating their first swimming gold in Beijing after Liu Zige won the women’s 200 butterfly less than an hour earlier, took silver while the United States won the bronze as the first five teams all went under the old world record.

Although Australia were not expected to win the gold their victory was not a total surprise after their impressive women’s team won gold medals on each of the four previous days.

Rice, who won gold in the 200 and 400 individual medleys, capped a remarkable first Olympics with her third world record of the Games.

“It’s so exciting, it’s me and Bronte’s last swim, and what a great way to finish, with a gold medal and a world record,” said Rice. “For us to break the record by so far is amazing.

“We went in knowing we had a really good chance. I wasn’t as nervous this time. I was trying to enjoy the moment. I’ve never led off a relay before.

“I feel amazing, I finished such a great meet as part of the relay, it’s amazing. There wasn’t a lot of nerves, just a lot of excitement, I’m so impressed with everything that happened.”

The U.S. went into the final as overwhelming favourites after setting the previous record at last year’s world championships in Melbourne but never got any higher than third.

The bronze kept Natalie Coughlin on course to win six medals in Beijing after her gold in the 100 backstroke, silver in the 4×100 freestyle and bronze in the 200 individual medley.

She has already qualified for Friday’s 100 freestyle final and will lead off the U.S. medley relay on Sunday.

However, America’s third placing was another disappointment for Katie Hoff, who is still chasing her first Olympic gold medal after nerves got the better of her in Athens four years ago and she vomited on the pooldeck.

Hoff arrived in Beijing attempting to win six gold medals, including five individual events, but has managed only a silver and two bronzes from her first five events with only the 800 freestyle to go.

“I’m doing good going into the 800,” Hoff said. “I’m definitely more determined for the 800, it’s definitely given me some motivation.”

Bob Bowman, the coach of Michael Phelps, who is also chasing five individual titles in Beijing, said Hoff had handled her programme brilliantly and she should be praised instead of criticised.

“The last Olympics was pretty much a complete disaster, so she’s way ahead of the game,” Bowman said.

“With every race she’s got better and grown a bit and she’s taken on these tough doubles too.

“She made the choice to do that and has handled that extremely well. I know she wanted to place higher and we always want to do better but I’m very proud of her.”

source: reuters.com

He’s the hero of the Beijing Olympics — but Michael Phelps has become the bane of bookmakers.
Gamblers have joined Phelps’s winning streak with online betting sites reporting a spike in money riding on the U.S. swimmer and higher interest overall from gamblers in the Games.
Phelps has been the favourite in all of his races in the Aug. 8-24 Games on various online betting sites, with odds for his victories down to about 5/2 on — paying out about $40 on a $100 bet.
“Although he has been at short odds to win he has being doing the right thing by the punters who are getting back more than they get on bank interest,” said Phil Hannah, general manager at Australia-based online betting site SportsBet.
“He really has become a thorn in the bookmakers’ side.”
Most gamblers are betting Phelps will beat compatriot Mark Spitz’s record of winning seven gold medals at one Olympics, with the 23-year-old already snapping up five golds from Beijing, making him the most decorated Olympian of all time with 11 golds.
He is due to swim the 200 metre individual medley on Friday, the 100 metre butterfly on Saturday and the 4×100 metre medley relay on Sunday.
Online site Sky Bet is also paying 5/2 on for Phelps to beat Spitz’s record.
The Olympics is not traditionally a major sports event for gamblers but Hannah said the interest had picked up for the 2008 Games particularly in Asia as the events were televised during the day.
Swimming is the sport attracting the most bets but weightlifting, table tennis, judo and soccer are also getting some interest.
U.S-based Betsonline.com has also experienced an increase in Olympic wagers although spokesman Tommy Allen said the Olympics still lagged far behind sports such as basketball and baseball.
U.S. television network NBC, which paid almost $900 million for the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Olympics, has been delaying showing the Games to hit prime-time viewers in the United States which could impact gambling interest.
“But Phelps is such a phenomenon we have seen interest in him,” said Allen.
He said the odds for Phelps winning the 100 metre butterfly on Saturday were set at minus 255 which means a win would pay out $39 on a $100 bet.
“He’s the clear favourite of the Games,” said Allen.
Horse racing reappeared in mainland China in the early 1990s as jockey clubs were set up but gambling remains illegal, except for state lotteries.

from: guardian.co.uk

Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima established a place for himself among swimming’s all-time greats with a victory Thursday at the Beijing Olympics.

Kitajima cruised to victory in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke in 2 minutes, 07.64 seconds to become the fifth swimmer in Olympic history to complete a golden double in successive Games.

Australia’s Brenton Rickard placed second in 2:08.88, with Hugues Duboscq of France third in 2:08.94 at the National Aquatics Center.

Kitajima, a double gold medalist four years ago in Athens who captured the 100 breaststroke gold Monday, finished just .13 off the world record he set in June.

Unlike in the 100, Kitajima came into the 200 as the firm favorite, not only as the world record-holder but because he didn’t have to deal with former record-holder and main rival, American Brendan Hansen, who failed to make the U.S. team in the event.

Kitajima joined American star Michael Phelps in the elite group of swimmers who have doubled in back-to-back Olympics.

The others were Germany’s Roland Matthes (100-200 backstroke, 1968-72), Hungary’s Tomas Darnyi (200-400 individual medley, 1988-92) and Russia’s Alexander Popov (50-100 freestyle, 1992-96).

The last swimmer to win back to back gold in the men’s 200 breaststroke was also a Japanese, Yoshiyuki Tsuruta way back in 1928 and 1932.

from: yomiuri.co.jp

Of all the swimming sessions in Beijing, this is the one Michael Phelps had to worry about the least. In fact, his worrying days might be over.

One record down, several more to go.

Phelps became the Olympics’ all-time gold medal leader Wednesday with two more wins at the National Aquatics Center — one by himself in the 200-meter butterfly and one as part of the United States’ winning 800-meter freestyle relay team.

It gave the 23-year-old American 11 career gold medals, two more than any other athlete in history, and put him more than halfway to breaking Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record of seven gold medals in one Olympics.

“The end is close,” Phelps said. “I love it.”

He now has now five gold medals in Beijing. The last two were all but guaranteed.

Phelps lowered his own world record in the 200 butterfly by .06 seconds despite having trouble seeing the last two walls through the water that filled his goggles.

He may not have been able to see the swimmers on either side of him pushing their way into contention, but it didn’t matter. Also the 2004 gold medalist in this distance, Phelps touched at 1 minute, 52.03 seconds.

His 10th gold medal moved him out of a tie with Spitz, American track and field star Carl Lewis, former Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi for the all-time Olympic gold medal record.

“I couldn’t see anything for the last 100 (meters),” Phelps said of the race. “My goggles pretty much filled with water and it kept getting worse and worse through the race and I was having trouble seeing the walls, to be honest.

“But I wanted to break the record. I wanted to 1:51 or better, but for the circumstances I guess it’s not too bad.”

Cseh won silver behind Phelps for the second time here after also finishing second to the American’s first gold medal swim in the 400 IM on Sunday. He touched in 1:52.70 — .67 seconds behind Phelps — for a new European record.

Matsuda took the bronze and set a new Asian record at 1:52.97.

Less than an hour later, Phelps was in the pool again for the 800 freestyle relay, a race the Americans were an overwhelming favorite to win. Swimming the first leg, he gave his team nearly a two-body-lengths lead over the first 200 meters while putting them more than two seconds ahead of their own world record pace.

Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay swam further under the world record pace over the next 600 meters until Vanderkaay touched to finish his anchor leg and secure the U.S. the first sub-seven minute time ever in the event.

The foursome broke the world record Phelps, Lochte and Vanderkaay set with Klete Keller last year by 4.68 seconds, finishing at 6:58.56 to successfully defend the gold the U.S. won in Athens four years ago.

“We talked about breaking seven minutes,” said Phelps, “and we did it.”

Said Lochte: “It was just a matter of time.”

Russia’s European-record swim of 7:03.70 wasn’t nearly good enough, as the country finished more than five seconds behind the U.S. at 7:03.70. Australia won bronze at 7:04.98.

Phelps has now been part of a world record in each of his gold medal swims here, also winning the 400-meter medley and 200-meter freestyle as individual events. He was part of the thrilling, record-setting 400-meter freestyle relay the U.S. ran Monday.

He only has three events remaining, and he’s won gold in all three before: the 200-meter individual medley, the 100-meter butterfly and the 400-meter medley relay (though he didn’t swim the final of that event in Athens).

If Phelps goes on to break Spitz’s Holy Grail record for gold medals in one Olympics — or even if he wins eight medals of any kind here — Phelps would be the all-time winningest medal winner among male Olympians with 16.

Said Phelps: “From now on it’s just a downward slope” — in momentum, that is.

Also on Wednesday, Federica Pellegrini of Italy won the gold medal and broke her own world record in the women’s 200-meter freestyle. Pellegrini, who had set the old mark on Monday, lowered it by .63 seconds to 1 minute, 54.82 seconds to win by just less than one-tenth of a second.

“I have been expecting to win for the last four years,” said Pellegrini, the 2004 silver medalist. So I have been avenged.”

Slovenia’s Sara Isakovic won the silver medal, her country’s first in swimming, at 2:06.34 while China’s Pang Jiaying took bronze in 2:06.42.

American Katie Hoff failed to win her third medal of the Beijing Olympics, finishing .73 seconds out of contention for the bronze with a new American record in the event of 1:55.78.

Hoff also finished fourth in the day’s other final, the 200-meter individual medley, where U.S. teammate Natalie Coughlin won the bronze to go along with the backstroke gold she won Tuesday.

Stephanie Rice of Australia lowered her own world record in the 200 IM by .47 seconds to 2 minutes, 8.45 seconds, claiming her second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics. Rice also won the women’s 400 IM on Sunday.

Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry has finished second behind Rice in both races, claiming silver again on Wednesday with a time of 2:08.59 — .14 seconds behind the winner. It was Coventry’s third silver medal here.

Coughlin finished a distant third, touching 1.89 seconds after Coventry at 2:10.34 for her bronze.

Rice said the two other swimmers pushed her to go faster.

“It’s really good being next to Natalie. She pushed me the first 100 meters,” said Rice. “And Kirsty swam amazing as always.”

from: canada.com

Michael Phelps spent less than 24 hours in the exclusive group of Olympians with nine gold medals. On Wednesday he proved he didn’t like crowds as he won his 10th gold medal in the 200m butterfly and then came back less than an hour later and swam the opening leg of the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay en route to his 11th gold as the Americans shattered the world record and became the first team to break the seven minute mark, touching the wall in 6:58.56.

The Americans dominated the pool with their nearest competitor, Russia, coming in at 7:03.70 to claim silver.

Australia finished in third to claim bronze.
Phelps quest for eight gold medals now appears all the more attainable having already collected five at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

from: transworldnews.com