Superman and super mom
It was almost as much fun watching Michael Phelps' mom during last night's final of the 100-meter butterfly. NBC kept a camera on her and replayed her reaction as her son out-touched Serbia's Milorad Cavic at the end to win gold medal No. 7 by just one one-hundredth of a second.
Debbie Phelps watched the finish and put up two fingers, resigned momentarily to the notion that Michael had come so, so close to tying Mark Spitz for the most gold medals in a single Olympics, only to fall maddenly short in his final individual race. It took a moment for her to read the times and let it sink in that, indeed, her son had come from behind at the absolute last possible instant to keep his date with history.
It was a wonderful moment, watching the realization overwhelm her. She slowly sank back into her seat and drank it all in.
Michael, shown at right with his mom after Wednesday's victory in the 4x200 freestyle relay, goes for his record eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games tonight, and while the race is a relay the Americans are heavily favored to win, don't expect mom to relax for a second until her son is at the top of the medal stand one more time.
Associated Press photo
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Comments
michael is simply fantastic. We have been wondering if his father is still alive, stc. as he is not part of any picture.
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Pete's reply: Michael's father is alive, but he is not in the picture.
Posted by: Naomi Beachy | August 16, 2008 8:05 AM
Hello Mr. Schmuck,
I wanted to tell you that you've changed my opinion about you (which wasn't very favorable before your blog appeared). Since I live in upstate NY, timely updates about my favorite team, the O's, are hard to come by. You have done an amazing job in keeping in the tradition of your predecessor of keeping all O's fans up on all the recent happenings with the team. I initially dismissed your blog as a cheap replacement. I stand very humbly corrected and wanted to say so. Now, get back to work!
TJP
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Pete's reply: Thanks. Double duty today. Blogging both the Orioles and Ravens at the same time. Don't worry, you're not going to get just half of each.
Posted by: Tim P. | August 16, 2008 8:09 AM