was Lezak's final leg. A body length down to the WR holder at the turn. Some would think, I have to hold on for 2nd place.
Not Lezak. Where the hell did that come from with 25 to go. What an absolutely GUT CHECK. 46.0 split?
Way to go guys. Way to go. I'm sitting here just absolutely amazed.
and a shot at the end of Bernard crying at the edge of the pool--ok, sulking
Are you really making fun of him, or criticizing him, for crying? I have cried under similar circumstances, and I bet a lot of other people--men and women alike--on this forum have too.
Sure, it's classier to wait until you are in private to cry about such events, but crying immediately after you lose such a high-profile contest is hardly the poor sportsmanship that sulking would be. I mean, I didn't see him rejecting a handshake or anything because he was too busy crying.
So my husband and I went up to bed before the last relay (he gets up at 4:40 and it was after 10 here). We are screaming at the screen during the whole thing, esp. through Lezak's swim, cheering at the finish, then watching intently the 10-15 times they replayed the final 20m on NBC (I could have easily watched 50 replays)...
He says, "How the hell are we supposed to sleep after that swim?"
He gets up and starts heading downstairs... I'm thinking to get a glass of water or something.
I say, "Oooh, Chris, get your laptop and bring it up so we can see all the splits!!!"
From the stairs: "Where do you think I'm going?" :D
Are you really making fun of him, or criticizing him, for crying? I have cried under similar circumstances, and I bet a lot of other people--men and women alike--on this forum have too.
Sure, it's classier to wait until you are in private to cry about such events, but crying immediately after you lose such a high-profile contest is hardly the poor sportsmanship that sulking would be. I mean, I didn't see him rejecting a handshake or anything because he was too busy crying.
I am making fun of him for trash talking. I have been competing in sports my entire life and I have cried on more occassions that I care to recall--and am so emotional that I cried when Phelps mom cried on his first gold. So I am probably more moved to cry on any given occassion.
My comment was directed at his big mouth. Has he not opened his big mouth, I would have felt for him as I did for Hoff when she lost by such a minuscule of a margin.
Wasn't Bernard the world record holder over 100 metres? Didn't he have almost a full body length on Jason Lezak at the beginning of that last lap?
How fast did Jason swim? Because that was super human. He was brilliant!!!!
Until Sullivan's 47.24 lead off, yes. And Lezak split a 46.06 :bow:
I was watching that relay swim on television over here in the UK with a few friends. None of us believed, with 25 metres to go, that it was possible for Lezak to win that race.
If Phelps manages to get all 8 golds, Lezak's effort may still be seen as the swim of the Games.
Absolutely AWESOME!
I am making fun of him for trash talking.
My comment was directed at his big mouth. Has he not opened his big mouth, I would have felt for him as I did for Hoff when she lost by such a minuscule of a margin.
I think that's fair. In the larger context, his reaction did seem as if maybe il peut le donner mieux qu'il peut l'accepter.
I did feel bad for him, though, big mouth or not. Just as the shots of the Americans jumping and hugging captured how thrilling it must feel to win something so major, that shot of Bernard's ribcage going in and out as he cried really summed up for me how awful it must feel to lose.
...that shot of Bernard's ribcage going in and out as he cried really summed up for me how awful it must feel to lose.
I watched this race several times last night and while I don't have it in front of me right now (the various youtube versions have been taken down) I don't remember seeing him cry. Are you talking about when he's hunched on the wall, back to camera? I thought he was still just breathing hard after, you know, swimming a really fast 100. I was mostly just impressed by how massive his lungs must be for his body to be expanding so much as he breathed.
I'm sure he wasn't expecting that loss though. I bet he didn't even realize he could lose until the last stroke or two when it was too late. I don't know where Lezak pulled that out of but it was one of most amazing things I've ever seen. I don't even think Lezak himself thought he could do it, he just willed himself to win and made it happen.
I'm curious now what the 100 free will be like. If by some miracle Lezak can go bananas again he might have a shot. Bernard could either be completely demoralized or absolutely determined to redeem himself. And Sullivan now has the record back and shown he'll be fast too. It's going to be crazy.
