Liu Disqualified

All eyes were on Liu Xiang.

Event: Heat 6, 110m Men's Hurdle Heats.

Venue: Bird's Nest

*.*.*

Thousands of Chinese, waiting under the hot sun for an entire morning just for one man. He had been the national pride; and for once, Chinese are able to see their favourite athlete competiting in the flesh. They were cheering him on, waiting for the moment he will emerge from the holding room.

Even as several events were going on at the same time, the camera were strictly surveying him in the holding room; where billions of Chinese were watching from their home intently. Out comes Liu, warming up and getting ready in his lane.

1st warning shot; Liu got up and ran like the others for 5m before slowing down and turning back. However: Liu ripped his sticker from his thigh and head for the holding room once more. Signs of an injury starts to show; the shock from the crowd was evident. Silence. Apart from finding out what happened to their hero, they might be asking themselves: What had we been waiting for? Why did we come here at 7am in the morning? What is my facepaint and banners for?

Liu had given up. He pulled out of training on Sunday in fear of aggrevating his injury. Liu has not competed since May 23, when he participated in a pre-Olympic test event at the Bird’s Nest. He withdrew from Reebok Grand Prix meet in New York on May 31, saying he felt a balky hamstring. On June 8, he false-started — some believe purposely — at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.

It breaks my heart to see how much faith the Chinese citizens had in him, and how much they anticipated his race. Some waited for weeks for the tickets, some came in wheelchairs, some flew into Beijing from suburban areas just to have a glimpse of their national hero. Liu’s coach, Sun Haiping, apologized for the injury then grew overcome with grief, covering his eyes and sobbing in a post-race news conference. Some Chinese reporters also cried in an area under the stadium where interviews with athletes are conducted.

news>>>

In recent days, the Chinese public had been cautioned not to expect too much from Liu, given that he had not competed since May 23 because of a hamstring injury.
That injury had healed, but last Saturday, Liu suffered a recurrence of chronic inflammation in his right Achilles’ tendon, according to China’s track and field federation.
By Monday morning, the pain had become “almost intolerable” and Liu began to shiver in discomfort, said Feng Shuyong, head of the track association.

Honoring Bridesmaid #1: László Cseh

László Cseh, Hungarian
(bald one --->)
Born December 3, 1985
Same age as Michael Phelps.
Comepeted in 3 races: all silver to Michael Phelps.
400m Individual Medley
200m Butterfly
200m Individual Medley
Set new ER in all 3.
The 2 pictures I've used were on different events - I swear.
The bronze for 200m Fly went to Matsuba (JPN).


Same Age, Different Fate.
...But has a golden personality:

"It's not a shame," Cseh said after his 3rd defeat to Phelps, "to be beaten by a better one."

Michael Phelps's Press Conference After 8th Gold

What Phelps said during his 8th gold press conference: *.*.*

"I don't know what to feel right now, there are so many emotions going through my head and so much excitement, I guess I just want to see my mom,"

"I didn't say anything when I reached her," he revealed later. "Mum just started crying, then I started crying, then my sister started crying."
On Winning:
"Records were always meant to be broken, no matter what they are"

"I want to be the first Michael Phelps, not the second Mark Spitz"

"Being able to have something to shoot for, it made those days when you were tired and didn't want to be there, it made those days easier, to look at him (Mark Spitz) and say, 'I want to do this',"

"I literally wanted to do something that no one's ever done before in this sport."

"The biggest thing is nothing's impossible,"

"So many people said it couldn't be done. All it takes is an imagination, and that's something I learned and something that helped me."

"It's gone from getting my hand on the wall and winning by one one-hundredths to winning the 400 free by nine one-hundredths to getting my best time in every event,"

"It has been nothing but an upward roller coaster. It's been nothing but fun."

"Seeing 8.8.08 (8 golds on the 8th day in the year 2008, in a country where 8 is a lucky number), I guess its a lucky number for me now, too...maybe it was meant to be, I don't know"

"Every moment that I've had so far, in and out of the pool, will be with me forever"

"It's just been one of the greatest weeks of my life, if not the greatest"

On Training:
"Bob (coach) has a saying: putting money in the bank. We train everyday, and sometimes there are sets or work out that you don't like or you don't want to do. Bob's always saying,'well, this is putting money in the bank, at the end of the year, you're able to withdraw everything, and make a big withdraw'. I guess I'ved put alot of money in the bank over the last 4 years...and we withdrew pretty much every penny in the bank (laughs). So its time to start redepositing."

On Teammates:
"Some of the best moments come away from the pool. I've never been part of a team that was so close in my life. There were so many times when we would just be sitting there, we'd be laughing the whole entire time"

"Outside of the pool, in the pool, on the medal podium...there are tons of memories that I'll have from this. And every single one of them I'll remember for the rest of my life."

On Sport of Swimming:
“My whole goal is to change the sport of swimming in a positive way,”

“I don’t want this sport to be an every-four-years sport; in between the four years, there’s really not as much exposure as I’d like.”

“I just want people to get involved. This sport has changed my life and allowed me to do so many things.”

"I've heard about 70,000 people at Raven's stadium staying after the pre-season game to watch the relay... 4 years ago, there's no way that will ever happen"

"The world of swimming has come a long way so far, and I think it can go even farther."

"And that's where I hope to take it"
On Plans after the race:
"I won't do anything,"

"I'll sit around and I won't have to go anywhere or be anywhere at a special time. I'll be on my clock."

“I want to lay in my own bed for five minutes, at least,”

“I don’t want to forget anything that happened,”

*.*.*

I didn't notice, did you?
Michael Phelps said that if he could change the result of a race, it would be the 200m Freestyle which he broke the WR. "I think I could go even faster, it was a wardrobe malfunction" I didn't notice until a MP's special was aired on the tv, replaying all of his 8 races. A long crack appeared at the back of his swimsuit. And of course there was the 200m Butterfly which he mentioned at the major press conference earlier that his goggles were filled with water.

"Everything was accomplished. What else can I do?" Phelps said Sunday. "To be able to accomplish everything you really ever dreamed of, it’s fun."

Lezak and Hansen on Phelps

Lezak and Hansen on Phelps

------------------------------------

"He’s a phenomenal swimmer to watch," Lezak said. "When you watch him swim a 200 freestyle and beat the field like he does, or a 200 IM, or a 400 IM, he’s just so dominant. You can not really put it into words. It’s just an amazing thing to watch."

"He's not worried about winning eight medals," Hansen said of Phelps.

Hansen was off and running. Teammates, he said, had been looking at Phelps without being too obvious, wondering how he was handling the pressure of trying to win the record eight gold medals. Phelps seemed oblivious to all such stress, saying, "'Man, the pizza's good today,'" Hansen reported.

This didn't stop Hansen from trying on Saturday night, just hours before the medley relay, to reassure Phelps.

Or maybe just reassure himself.

Hansen had visited Phelps' room in the athletes' village, and retold the conversation on Sunday afternoon following a news conference at the Main Press Center.

Hansen had noticed -- who couldn't -- that Phelps' seven gold medals were hanging up in his room. Hansen described them as like "wind chimes."

"'I said, 'Michael, I won't let you down tomorrow, man,'" Hansen said. "'We're going to do this relay and we're going to do it right. We'll make this thing happen.'

"I said, 'Michael, if you make your eighth, it doesn't matter what you do from here. Nobody can ever take that away from you. And it doesn't matter if somebody says, 'Well, what about nine? You will never have to prove yourself again."

And Phelps' reaction?

"He just shook his head like, 'I can't believe this is happening.'"

Phelps ... and everyone else.