There's nothing that will get American sports fans to bond together faster than someone else talking smack about an American team. Make it a Frechman saying they are going to "smash" an American team? And have the Americans then win in an unbelievable come from behind finish? There's a recipe for patriotic celebration and national hero status for Jason Lezak. And if you thought the pre-game chatter from the French team didn't have an affect on the race - the celebration by Michael Phelps and company after Lezak ran down the 100m world record holder Alain Bernard in the final stretch of the race showed just how much this meant to the US team. Garrett Weber-Gale calling them "Frenchies" in the post-race interview gave a flash of the bad blood that seems to have built up between the two teams.
It was a truly remarkable race, maybe the best relay race in the history of swimming. The US won by the narrowest of margins in a crazy finish and set a new world record by almost 4 seconds, but even the 4th and 5th place finishers (Sweden and Italy) broke the previous world record. At one point the moving green line that NBC was using to show the existing world record pace was in danger of falling off the screen it was so far behind the leaders. An Australian swimmer broke the existing 100m freestyle world record on the opening leg for his team, and they still only finished third. Alain Bernard is certainly the goat of the day for losing the lead to Lezak, but he still swam his 100m split in 46.7, which in any other situation would be considered blazing fast. The depth of sprinting worldwide has greatly increased in the last decade, and this race was unbelievable in terms of pure speed. Throw in the pre-race drama and this was possibly the defining moment of the 2008 Olympics.
It's not often that swimming dominates US sports discussion, but pretty much every US sports fansite had people talking about the race tonight (best line I saw tonight: "Bernard must have thought that Lezak was a German name") - if Phelps' chase of 8 gold medals didn't already have people fired up about USA Swimming, tonight surely sealed the deal.
A Comeback for the Ages
Anchored by a thrilling comeback from Jason Lezak, second from left, the Americans edged France for gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay, keeping Michael Phelps' quest for a record eight gold medals alive.
Jerry Lampen, Reuters
Lezak, bottom, hit the wall just ahead of French star Alain Bernard to complete the amazing rally. "I knew I was going to have to swim out of my mind," Lezak said. "Still right now, I'm in disbelief." The 32-year-old is the oldest man on the U.S. swimming team, yet he outpaced the contender seven years his younger.
Jason Reed, Reuters
"Unbelievable," said Phelps, who swam the leadoff leg of the race. "Jason finished that race better than we could even ask for." The 400 freestyle relay was considered to be Phelps' toughest test in his attempt to make history at Beijing.
David Gray, Reuters
Phelps got the team off to a great start with an American record time of 47.51, but it was Lezak's turn that seized the gold. His time of 46.06 was the fastest relay leg in history though it doesn't count as an official record.
Adrees Latif, Reuters
The gold is the second of the Olympics for Phelps after dominating the 400-meter individual medley a day earlier. Phelps' next race will be the 200-meter freestyle, a race that he's heavily favored to win, but one that no American has taken the gold in since Bruce Furniss in 1976.
Mike Hewitt, Getty Images
The victory was extra sweet for the Americans in making Bernard, right, eat his words. Earlier this week, the French star boasted that his team would "smash" the United States in the relay event. "The Americans? We're going to smash them," Bernard said. "That's what we came here for."
Wolfgang Rattay, Reuters
The Americans shattered the world record set the previous evening in the preliminaries, touching with a time of 3 minutes, 8.24 seconds - nearly 4 full seconds below the 15-hour-old mark of 3:12.23.
Adam Pretty, Getty Images
While Lezak and Phelps embodied strong team spirit, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones also did their parts on the middle legs of the relay. The Americans were faced with the immense pressure of not ruining Phelps' shot at snapping Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the Olympics.
David Gray, Reuters
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
8-11-2008 @ 10:57PM
ELIZABETH said...
"WOO HOO" CONGRADULATIONS USA RELAY TEAM. "YOU DID IT" WELL DONE, HOW PROUD I AM OF YOU. BEST RACE I HAVE EVER SEEN. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO U S A
NOW FRANCE........................."SHOVE IT" OR SHOULD I SAY....
"SMACK THAT" HA HA HA LOOOOOOOOOOSERS.
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8-11-2008 @ 1:38AM
craig said...
What a great win for the usa relay team, Phelps was not thinking of himself,when cheering/going mad, He with the rest of his team ,just could,nt believe what a fantastic last leg lezak did,It was a great win for the USA and we did well with Adlington (gold),and Bronze for UK. The french won,t be drinking chamagne tonight
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8-11-2008 @ 1:48AM
leslie green said...
for just a moment thought race was lost. awesome finish
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8-11-2008 @ 1:47AM
daveT said...
In the spirit of competition, we have to take our hats off to the French swimming team. I say congrats to a great team that lost to a better team this one time. France is a great nation with great people. Competition is meant to promote humanity not build walls with nations. I am a mayflower descendent and have visited France. It is a wonderful nation with wonderful people. I don't mind France confidence in "smashing" us..we are confident also, from Joe Namath promising victory, to babe ruth pointing in left field. Its all good...we're all people... congrats USA for winning and congrats France for losing by 8/10ths of a second...you should be proud...
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8-11-2008 @ 9:12AM
DocAKb said...
Beautiful comments. Our US boys needed an incentive. The French swimmers comments encouraged us to excel; and that we did. It also created the an exciting final.one very few will forget. There is a lot more to come.Although I expect China to take the overall medal count Each gold medalist deserves our highest praise whether in trapshooting or in track and field.
8-11-2008 @ 11:21AM
John H said...
Perhaps the French should learn some humility. Competition is intended to bring out the best in the sportmen who compete. A promissing victory is best suited to a quite consolation when the victory goes the other way. Our U.S. team showed great sportsmanship in thier victory, France showed a lack of humility and sportsmanship before and after the race. I've been to France many times and it is a great place to visit, but the U.S. has a sense of dignity that is rarely shown outside of the U.S.
8-11-2008 @ 9:18PM
anny said...
Well said daveT. I didn't see anything wrong with what Bernard said. As an athlete, they should have the confidence that they will win. They were favored in this race, but the US just had an amazing swim. I knew who won and I was still screaming at the TV. It was great to see Phelps go over to the French team and shake their hands and the French team doing the same at the medal ceremony. That's what the Olympics are all about.
8-12-2008 @ 2:01AM
steve said...
i think the phrase"smashing the americans" was uncalled for. the french have a tendency to be smug and pretentious. all that did was fire up the american swimmers and showed the world ,including france, that the U.S. walks the walk not just talk the talk. you dont hear anything from the french now ,do you?
8-11-2008 @ 8:19AM
Jan said...
Way to go USA. The most fantastic race I've seen in a long time. Total team effort. Hats off to you Frenchies-IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!!!
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8-11-2008 @ 8:19AM
beesnest said...
What? Not a WORD about 3rd leg Cullin Jones, who may have just opened the field for other AfricanAmericans in a sport in which they've had little representation, & who was 1/4 of the victory? Shame!
Congrats, Cullin!!!!!!! Great effort ;)
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8-11-2008 @ 11:22AM
Logiopath said...
Exactly--Cullen is just as much a part of the team as anyone else. Blatantly racist! NBC
8-11-2008 @ 8:19AM
splasher said...
What? Not a word about Cullin Jones, 1/4 of the team effort, 3rd leg, and only the 2nd Afro-American to medal in Olympic swimming?
Shame! Not much film coverage of him either... though he may have been in back recovering from his leg...
Congrats Cullin. Great effort!!!! ;)
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8-11-2008 @ 8:27AM
rick said...
Yes, I noticed a black swimmer, and yes I knew it was unusal. But why do we have to take note the fact he is black. He is American and that is all that counts. By the way, he did not do such a great job during the race at all. So should we harp on the fact that he might have cost the race with his bad swim? We won and that is the most important thing, and of course sticking it to the French. I mean why did they have to go and say something stupid like smashing the Americans?
8-11-2008 @ 8:18AM
chris said...
i am very happy for the US swimming team.But i think we need to see more for other events.i would really like to watch real wrestling on T.V not that fake stuff.Not one network is covering
Wrestling,thats a sport for real power and stamina.Like i said i am happy for our boys in the pool,but lets see and hear about something else.
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8-11-2008 @ 12:56PM
teddy said...
Hey you can watch all the events live on www.nbc11.com or www.nbcolympics.com. And I'm pretty sure you can catch up on all the previous meets.
8-12-2008 @ 12:25PM
sarah said...
oh chris swimming is more of a sport then wrestling will ever be and it is not fake these swimers have to be flexsable and swim 6 to 5 hours every singal day all wrestling people have to do is pick up a couple heavy wheights here and there. I would now because michael is one of my closest friends
8-11-2008 @ 5:57PM
Thomas Williams said...
The France relay team that stated they came to crush the US Team fell to their own ignorance, arrogance and Ego. The French will not even be seond or third in overall swimming medals, so why all of the swagger for a team that will trail the USA, Australia and probably several other teams? With France, their arrogance and ignorance are always the same! why should the Olympics be any different?
Cheers to the USA!! Great relay, world record and win!!
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8-11-2008 @ 9:23AM
DocAKB said...
Tom, You are rude. I believe you forget some of our Basketball teams and the cockiness they displayed in previous Olympics. Do some boasting when the final medal count is listed. It won't be USA on top of the standings..
8-11-2008 @ 8:18AM
Alix said...
there will be a terrible revenge....:) Fred said "experience was better than talent" and tonight it's true.... I'm sorry I love the US team but tonight it's a little bit unfair.... Congrats USA for winning this amazing race.... I'm proud of my team because few years or months ago nobody could imagine such a race and a silver medal!:)
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8-11-2008 @ 8:18AM
LARS said...
WAY TO GO "USA", FRANCE CAN KISS OUR A__.
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