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Phelps Gets Off to Record Start, Wins a Gold
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But after winning that first gold in the first final -- with another daunting proposition, the 4x100 relay against a strong French squad, scheduled for Monday morning -- Phelps admitted some relief.
"I'm pretty excited to have the first one under my belt," he said.
Rice expressed similar thoughts. The 20-year-old has improved her own 400 IM by wide margins over the last year, taking the world record from Hoff during Australian trials in March, only to have Hoff take it back at the U.S. trials. But what unfolded in the Olympic version of the race was alarming. Hoff's record was 4:31.12, and she didn't swim poorly, coming within 0.6 of a second of that.
"I'm happy to get my first-ever medal at the Olympics," she said. But she was no match for Rice, who led throughout. Her time of 4:29.45 is the first in history under 4:30, and she was followed closely by Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who took silver.
"I know it's such an amazing achievement," Rice said. "I've worked so hard for it. I have no regrets about the preparation I've had."
Neither, of course, does Phelps. "I think I'm as prepared as I can be at this moment," he said. "This is the best time to be in that position."
After it was over, Phelps's glance found Bush in the crowd. The president waved an American flag and nodded. Phelps merely nodded back. He called the moment "special." Maybe more so, though, was his appearance on the medal stand. Phelps has said repeatedly that this year has been difficult, low-lighted by a spill in which he broke his wrist. When the national anthem started playing, he thought about what he has called a "roller coaster." His eyes watered.
"I wanted to sing in the medal presentation," he said. "But I just couldn't stop crying."
The eye-moistening ceased only when the anthem, unexpectedly, stopped early. But in those tears were everything Phelps has to offer -- the preparation of a champion, the emotion of a human, the athletic precision of a legend. It would surprise no one here if that scene is repeated again and again here -- perhaps even seven more times.
