2012 Olympics Day 4: Team USA Shine in the Pool and in the Gymnasium

Only four days down in London and already we have some iconic moments from the 30^th Olympiad to treasure. Michael Phelps' whoop of delight as he became the greatest Olympian of all time—in terms of medal count—and the tears of joy of gymnast Aly Raisman as she finished her floor routine will live long in the memory of sport fans.

Phelps swam the final leg of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay to nail down his place in Olympic history, while team captain Raisman put the icing on the cake of a dominant, near-flawless display.  Both were individual athletes striving—on this occasion—for the collective. Two teams in two completely different sports but both teams wore the burden of expectancy lightly. 

The display of the U.S. women’s team was so dominant, so composed and so near perfect, it is hard to believe that all five girls are teenagers—with Raisman, the veteran at the age of 18. From the first vault by Jordyn Wieber to the last tumble by Raisman on the floor, the team looked utterly imperious.

Wieber put aside her disappointment at losing out at a spot in the individual final for the good of the team. Team USA’s third vault by Mckayla Maroney caused one of the BBC’s pundits to declare it as the greatest she had seen. As Maroney soared, one could only regret that the old "perfect ten" scoring system is redundant but her score of 16.233 set a standard that the other teams couldn’t match.

The Americans’ weakest event—the uneven bars—only slowed their momentum slightly, despite a very solid performance on this apparatus by Russia, anchored by Victoria Komova, to close the gap between the two teams at the half-way mark.

Yet again, Gabby Douglas excelled on the beam as she has done on all apparatuses in London. She will be a red hot favorite for the all-round individual title in the absence of world champion Wieber. Douglas and 15-year-old Kayla Ross delivered near-flawless performances on the beam as the U.S. team’s nearest challenger Russia began to wilt in the face of ominous perfection.

Aliya Mustafina and Komova wobbled as Ross and Douglas gracefully danced and somersaulted, as if they were on the floor rather than on a four-inch beam. The Russians, like the Chinese, had been broken by poise, grace and precision and endured a miserable floor exercise with Ksenia Afanaseva falling to her knees at the conclusion of her 90-second routine. She was in tears as she left the floor.

Raisman would end her exciting routine in tears too, but tears of joy as she ensured the U.S. would win its first gold in the team event since 1996. The teenagers belied their age in the maturity of their performances and grace under pressure but showed it in their unadulterated joy at winning. What a credit to their country.

Then it was to the pool for Michael Phelps' date with destiny. Some (including a teammate) had criticized him for coming back, saying he was greedy to attempt to become the greatest Olympian of all time, that he should have bowed out in Beijing on a high, that he wasn’t at his best and hadn’t trained hard enough. Our innate sense of wanting to pull someone down off their pedestal overwhelmed the privilege it is for us to see a legend being born. These comments were amplified in the aftermath of his fourth-place finish in the 400-meter individual medley.

Phelps dived into the pool knowing he wasn’t only swimming against his opponents but against the weight of history, cynicism and resentment.  Phelps’ first race of the night was his favored 200-meter butterfly, as he attempted to become the first man to win this event in three Olympics. He led at the 50-meter, 100-meter, 150-meter and 198-meter mark, before being beaten to the touch by the young South African Chad Le Clos. Those who claimed Phelps had tarnished his legacy were rubbing their hands in glee.

Well, for about an hour, for you can only delay the juggernaut of history, not stop it, and Phelps—with a big help from his rival Ryan Lochte—would not be denied. Lochte’s second 100 meters in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay opened up a gap of two lengths for Conor Dwyer to hold and actually increase on his last 50-meter split. Lochte won it on the turn with his powerful butterfly kick. Ricky Berens did his part, giving Phelps the cushion of a comfortable lead, which allowed the anchor Phelps to linger slightly on the starting block. No chance of him going before Berens touched.  Phelps was not going to take any chances of a disqualification with history beckoning. It wasn’t quite a victory lap for Phelps, not with Agnel anchoring for France, but it was as comfortable as he could have hoped for.

Phelps touched to ensure gold for Team USA—his 15^th gold medal, 19^th medal in total and third of these games.  Phelps touched to become the greatest Olympian of all time. Afterward, Phelps was his usual unassuming self—hiding his disappointment at been beaten in his favored event earlier in the night. He was grace personified as he praised Chad Le Clos in his NBC interview. The greatest Olympian of all time and a gentleman—savor him.