 Phelps sets world bullion standard
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-18 07:56 For years, no one believed any mortal could better Mark Spitz's seven-gold haul at 1972. Yesterday, no one believed Michael Phelps would not. But then is he a mere mortal? Yet the 23-year-old, who as a child in Baltimore, US, had a screaming fit at his first swimming lesson because he did not want to get his face wet, showed he was human after all. "The first thing I'd like to do to my mum is just hug her," said Phelps, whose parents separated when he was young. "It's been nothing but an upwards roller-coaster but it's been nothing but fun," he said 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." From the minute he walked into the Water Cube at the head of the US team, the whole world knew history was there for the making. Phelps had equaled Spitz's record on Saturday. He already had the highest haul of Olympics gold. So what more did he need? One last gold to add to a heap of bullion that exceeds anything the Olympics has ever seen (14 golds, six in Athens and eight in Beijing) and to go beyond Spitz's seven-golds-at-a-Games record. As one newspaper said, only the US president has stood proudly erect through more televised anthems and there has never been a swimmer whose medal-winning has threatened such a serious case of neck-ache. In all likelihood, the airport metal detector will go bananas when he flies back to the US. Jamaica fare well At the National Stadium, a stone's throw away from Phelps' battleground, the Jamaican women's team created a history of a different kind. Shelly-Ann Fraser clocked 10.78 seconds in the 100m dash to become the world's fastest woman. And she had Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson, two of countrywomen, for company on the podium, making it a rare 1-2-2 for Jamaica. Stewart and Simpson both clocked 10.98 seconds. In tennis, Rafael Nadal won the men's singles gold, beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Eight more China continued its gold rush with eight more top medals. The golds came in the 50m rifle 3-positions, men's gymnastics floor exercise and pommel horse, women's table tennis team, women's 72kg freestyle wrestling, women's quadruple sculls rowing, women's 3m springboard diving and men's badminton singles. Qiu Jian won the gold after Mathew Emmons finished fourth by squeezing the trigger just before he was ready to fire, wiping out his huge 3.3-point lead. Emmons appeared stunned when his final shot registered a mere 4.4 after he had scored above a 10 with seven of his last nine shots. Emmons had thrown away a near-certain gold in the event four years ago at Athens too, when he fired at the wrong target. In gymnastics, the hosts won two golds, Zou Kai emerging victorious in the men's floor exercise and Xiao Qin picking up the pommel horse title. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) won the women's vault and Romania the women's floor exercise golds. Lin Dan of China claimed the men's badminton singles title, beating Lee Chong-wei of Malaysia 21-12, 21-9. Chinese women beat Singapore to win the table tennis team title to keep China on road to a clean sweep of gold medals in the sport. Diving queen Guo Jingjing bagged the women's 3m springboard gold, becoming the first diver to win back-to-back Olympic individual and synchronized titles. Wang Jiao upset two-time world champion Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria to claim the women's 72kg freestyle wrestling gold. The rowing competition ended at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, with China snatching its first ever gold medal in the event. Back at the Water Cube, Britta Steffen of Germany won the women's 50m freestyle. China Daily-Agencies (China Daily 08/18/2008 page1) |
