THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2008
SPORTS 17B
United States' Michael Phelps celebrates winning his 8th gold medal after the men's 4x100-meter relay final during the swimming competition in the National Aquatics Center at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Sunday.
ASSOCIATED PRFCS
Beijing along with five individual races, gave a shout-out, to all his
eliminates for helping him take down Spitz.
"Without the help of my teammates this isn't possible," he said, "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.
Phelps set seven world records and one Olympic record, doing a personal best time in every event.
It's been nothing but an upwards rollercoaster and it's been nothing but fun."
"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."
MICHAEL PHELPS U.S. Olympic swimmer
"It can't be described. We'll never, ever see it again," said Australian distance king Grant Hackett, who came up short in his bid to win a third straight 1,500 freestyle title.
Beforehand, Hackett figured Phelps was likely to win six golds, just as he did in Athens four years ago when the first attempt to beat Spititz's record came up just short.
last few years I've never seen him change"
"Everything lined up for him incredibly," Hackett said. "He's a nice guy, a good bloke, and the
Back in Baltimore, some 10,000 fans hung around after an NFL preseason game to watch the relay on the stadium's big screen.
"I think he's going to be a legend forever." Ravens fan
Ann Williams said.
Phelps won some races by ridiculously large margins, others with the closest of finishes — most memorably, his seventh gold by one-hundredth of a second over Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100 fly. Along the way, he became the winningest Olympian ever and left
China with 14 career golds — five more than anyone else with at least one more Olympics to go.
"It's been nothing but an upwards roller-coaster and it's been nothing but fun," Phelps said.
Ditto for Dara Torres, who capped her improbable comeback with two more silver medals, missing gold by one hundredth of a
second in the 50 freestyle.
The 41-year-old Torres, a five-time Olympian and the oldest American swimmer ever, also anchored the American women to a runner-up finish in the 400 medley relay. She got silver in all three of her races in Beijing, giving her 12 medals in a remarkable career that began at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — a year before Phelps was even born.
"I go home extremely thrilled." Torres said.
Germany's Britta Steffen nipped Torres at the wall to complete a sweep of the women's sprint events in Beijing. The middle-aged American smiled, her head dropping back, when she saw a time of 24.07 — just behind Steffen's winning effort of 24.06. The German added to her gold in the 100 free.
"I go home extremely thrilled."
Torres received her silver, then
DARA TORRES
U.S. Olympic swimmer
hustled back to the locker room to grab her cap and a pair of old-fashioned goggles that were probably older than some of her teammates. She was trailing as she took the anchor leg
and couldn't catch Libby Trickett on a frantic sprint to the wall, with China claiming the bronze.
Still, not bad considering she
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael Phelps, right, Aaron Peirson and Brendan Hansen, left, of the United States celebrate after winning the gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Sunday.
had retired a second time after the 2000 Sydney Games, then got the urge to compete again after having her first child two years ago
Torres got off to a good start in the 50 and appeared to be leading midway through the race, a frenetic sprint from one end of the pool to the other.
As they came to the wall.
"It's like 90 yards of a touchdown. It was so close, but I didn't have much of a response."
Torres and Steffen were stroke for stroke. The German reached out with her left hand and Torres stretched with her right. Steffen's fingertip got there first.
Completing a race for all ages, 16-year-old Australian Cate Campbell earned the bronze in 24.17.
GRANT HACKETT
Australian Olympic swimmer
Schipper and Libby Trickett — took the gold with a world record of 3:52.69. The Americans claimed
silver with the second-fastest time in history, 3:53.30 while China took the bronze.
Australia's relay women — Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jess
"It's like 90 yards of a touchdown. It was so close, but I didn't have much of a response," Hackett said. "It's disappointing I didn't win. I have no regrets, it certainly was a close race."
Mellouli held off Hackett in the closing meters of the grueling race. Hackett earned the silver in 14:41.53, well off his 7-year-old world record of 14:34.56.
"He's never hung on like that in the past," Hackett said of the winner "He was the better competitor."
Mellouli, who trains in Southern California, was coming off a suspension after testing positive for amphetamines.
Hackett failed to become the first man to win the same event at three straight Olympics.
Magnuson. Coughlin received her sixth medal of the games, giving her 11 in her career.
The Aussie was upset in swimming's version of the mile by Ous Mellouli, who won Tunisia's first Olympic gold at the pool in 14:40.84.
Ryan Cochrane of Canada took the bronze in 14:42.69.
After receiving his eighth gold, Phelps received another award from FINA, the sport's governing body, as the best swimmer of the meet.
Make it the best ever.