On August 11, 2008, Michael Phelps, the swimming legend made history by breaking Mark Spitz?s record of seven medals in a single Olympics. The Beijing Olympics gave Phelps more than one reason to celebrate this victory boisterously. It was a moment the entire nation celebrated.
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Led by the 32-year-old, Jason Lezak, and his teammates, Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, and Cullen Jones, were getting ready for their unforgettable final. There was no gold since 2000, in the 4×100 m relay. Notably, Lezak was part of the team in 2000, when Australia, and in 2004, when South Africa clinched the gold.
Michael Phelps roared his lungs out
Days before the event, the French world record holder uttered, ?The Americans? We?re going to smash them. That?s what we came here for.? With that in mind, the Team U.S.A was determined to try, however tough, to prove them wrong.
In a 2014 interview, Lezak recalled the day. They gathered outside the ready room. Lezak had something to say. They walked down the hallway and wanted to keep it brief and precise. He reminded Phelps and the others that they lost that race in the last two Olympics. ?We?re supposed to win this. This is USA?s race.? Furthermore, he asked them to look at it as a 400, not a 4×100 relay. Also, the talk neither involved yelling nor pep-talk, ?but I saw the response that it got.?
The relay began. The entire place was filled with an avalanche of emotions. Lezak was so eager to catch Bernard that he felt his reaction time was too quick and could get disqualified.?As the team watched Lezak swim and commentators making comments on whether the outcome will be a shocker, Phelps was yelling ?Get This Mother*****.? The calm and polite Phelps turned into a beast unleashing the never-before-seen side of his.
The tale of the victory was soaked in blood
Lezak swam with a myriad of thoughts in his mind. When he reached the end of the block, he wanted to know whether he made it. There were two ways of doing it. Turn around and look at the scoreboard or look at his teammates screaming for him. He chose the latter.
The U.S. won by .08. Phelps and the boys? celebrations knew no bounds. As Lezak got off the pool, he could barely stand. He grabbed onto his guys for support. When he took off his suit before the medal ceremony, he found he hurt his leg by banging his shin on a ledge while climbing out of the pool. Stained in blood, the suit was later sent to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
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Written by
Edited by
Vibhanshu Kumar