by Jim McGrath

Created on: August 17, 2008   Last Updated: August 20, 2008

I just finished watching the completion of the greatest athletic performance ever. Michael Phelps came to the Beijing Olympics with the intention of winning an unprecedented eight gold medals. He will leave Beijing with all eight of them.

I am old enough to remember the 1972 Olympics. Even at seven years old, I was awed by the performance of Mark Spitz. His seven gold medals set a high standard for anybody to break. Many believed that Spitz's feat would never be duplicated, much less surpassed.

Then along came Phelps. His first taste of the Olympic games came as a 15 year old, and his effort was gamely, if not medal worthy, with one fifth place finish. With greater aspirations, and an incredible, yet awkward, body type (6'5" with size 14 feet and a short 30 inch inseam) he trained prodigiously in his hometown of Baltimore, MD. His progression as a world class swimmer was so obvious that the USOC invited Spitz to Athens in 2004 to see Phelps take aim at his seven gold medal record. Phelps fell just a bit short, winning six gold and two bronze medals. In an act of selflessness, he gave up his opportunity for a seventh gold in a relay, giving his spot to Ian Crocker. Ironically, if Crocker had beaten Phelps in the 100 fly last week, the situation could have been reversed.

The idea of Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals was not going to be entirely based on his performance. He was in relays, and the beauty or tragedy of team sports is that a bad performance by one of the four individuals on a relay, or a false start, or early release on a relay exchange could have spelled doom for his chances. In one of the most memorable finishes of all time, Jason Lezak overcame a huge deficit to win the 400 free relay and keep Phelps' dream alive.

Last night, the most incredible finish in the 100 fly won Phelps his seventh gold medal. With five meters to go, he was losing the race, but in an amazing half stroke of luck, the leading swimmer tried to glide for the last three feet, while Phelps took a half stroke and won by a mere .01 second.

With one race to go, it was up to the 400 medley relay to help Phelps win his eighth gold. The pressure must have been incredible, especially for Lezak, who was swimming the final leg. All legs swam best times, and Phelps' leg of 50.1 in the fly was a world record performance.

In my opinion, Phelps completed the greatest athletic performance of all time. Spitz was a tremendous swimmer. But, by comparison, Spitz swam two different strokes, while Phelps competed in three different events. Spitz had to swim in 12 overall races, while Phelps had 17. Transcending to other sports, I think of two other great athletic feats. Lance Armstrong won seven straight Tour de France's. In my opinion, this may be the best athletic performance over a long period of time. Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, under the eyes of Adolf Hitler, who was trying to prove his theory of Aryan dominance. Truly remarkable. However, over the course of one week, Michael Phelps accomplished something that we may never see again in our lifetimes. Eight gold medals and seven world records. I feel blessed to have been able to watch it.

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