Olympic Diary : Day 4

All about Phelps : Glory and Heartache

The Men's 200 m Butterfly Podium

Tuesday at the games was all about one man, who firmly put himself on top spot as the greatest Olympic medal winner of all time (lets reserve the term greatest Olympian for another discussion). Anchoring the men’s 4 x 200 m freestyle relay , Michael Phelps was handed a comfortable lead and never really looked in any danger of being overhauled , even by the face of the pool in London , Yannick Agnel. However for all the joy at this 15^th gold (and 19^th medal) , the real moment (easily destined to be one of the most memorable from London) had come half an hour earlier in the men’s 200 m butterfly , an event which Phelps had dominated for the best part of a decade and went into the final as the 2 time Olympic gold medallist....For 9/10^th of the race , all seemed to be going to plan with the American leading , if not comfortably , with breathing space , when over the final 20 m , the curse of the three-peat hit home.   

Forget 8 golds.....world records.....sprint doubles and trebles....the holy grail in men’s swimming has suddenly become a 3-peat gold medal in the same event.  Having led pretty much from start to finish he was beaten on the line by the stretch of a hand. South African Chad Le Clos took the gold but the race was Michael’s to win...and he failed. You could sense the whole watching world  (minus the country of SA maybe rooting for him on that final home stretch , I was sure he’d won it...but alas). Not that it tarnishes a legacy, if anything it only enhances it. All this would have done was place Phelps that extra league further in the pantheon of great Olympic swimmers that he shares with...well no one really. Popov failed, Thorpe couldn’t even attempt it and now Phelps too has come up short. He will win other medals in these games (even golds) but the loss is likely to rankle for some considerable duration of time. 

In other pool events 16 yr old swim sensation Ye Shiven added the 200 m IM to the 400 m title she won 2 days back , while American Alison Schmidt took home the women’s 200 m freestyle gold.

Elsewhere the Chinese were finally toppled from the gymnastics podium by the US as perennial powerhouses Russia and Romania took home the other honours. China promptly went out and earned itself gold in 3 other disciplines (apart from Shiven’s Swimming gold) – Men’s Sabre , Women’s synchronised diving (platform), and weightlifting (men’s 69 kg).