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There's not a whole lot to add.

Michael Phelps'

seventh gold medal of the Beijing Games was an epic comeback and one of the most thrilling finishes in sports history. As they say, the great ones always find a way to get it done.

 

Besides, rolling through a loaded Olympic swimming field perfect and winning a record number of gold medals can't come without a fingertip of luck. There's no shame in that.

 

The question is, which race is more likely to burn in your memory forever: The 4x100 freestyle relay, Phelps' second gold highlighted by Lezak's amazing comeback against the French; or the 100 butterfly with the finish so close the naked eye couldn't determine a winner?

 

I can't decide, but I'm leaning toward the 100 fly because we're so close to the end of Phelps' legendary program, and the finish was one of the most amazing things I've witnessed. If Phelps was .02 seconds slowerthink about thatthe whole nation would've woken up grumpy this morning.

 

That said, the relay still remains a classic race. So I can't call it.

 

How about you?

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No, I am not referring to race walking which should be dropped from the Olympics(and as a sport for that matter).  C'mon, they are all running and it is just a case of getting caught before you cross the line. No, I am talking about the 100m and the awesome, or more appropriate, not-so-awesome, performance of Usain Bolt.  The guy literally jogged a 9.92. Not 'sprinted'. Not 'ran'. But 'jogged' a 9.92. Yikes! Is the final even going to be a contest or should we just give the gold medal to the young Jamaican and go watch Michael Phelps win another gold medal.

 

If I were Asafa Powell or Tyson Gay, I would be tossing and turning in my sleep suffering recurring nightmares of seeing Bolt come across the finish about 10 body lengths ahead. Of course, nothing is for certain or they would have given the gold medal to France in the 4x100 freestyle relay, but Bolt look so casual (not "relaxed", I mean 'casual') in the final 50m of his race that about the only thing that can keep him from winning is either a false start of if the starter's gun is loaded and he points it at Bolt.

 

Sometimes domination is boring, other times it is held in awe. I think Bolt falls into the category of 'wow'.  Hopefully, Powell and Gay won't be totally psyched out, but if they watched Bolt's race, they might not even show up for the final.  That's what I would probably do which, of course, explains why I never made it to the Olympics.

 

However you feel about the Bolt/Powell/Gay race, one thing is for sure. They gotta nuke race walking or put in some sort of electronic monitoring on their shoes.  It's embarassing for the athletes and the sport.

 

Bruce

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