by David Dewitt

Created on: August 27, 2008

I am avid fan of the Olympics, I especially love the Summer games. There are some Olympic moments; that stand out above all the rest. They are moments in time that remain in the memories of those who watch the games. I can remember watching Kerri Strug vault and nail the landing standing on one foot. I saw the first Dream Team for basketball win the gold medal. I watched as Carl Lewis won medal after medal in track and field. These moments stand out because of their greatness in the overall impact on the games as a whole. These are the moments that move us to look beyond individual accomplishment and understand that there is something above sports or competition with the Olympics.

Now a new moment has entered center stage on the Olympic horizon. An Olympic moment that was created by nothing more than incredible ability and amazing determination. Michael Phelps now holds more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history. When it comes to the Olympics, no one has ever been more successful than Michael Phelps, no one. Michael Phelps has done what no one else has ever been able to do. Michael now holds 16 Olympic medals and 14 of them are gold. That is the most gold medals of anyone in history. This is a feat that few could match and highly unlikely that anyone could ever surpass. We need to remember that the gold medal is the highest honor of excellence

I must say that I was truly impressed by the attitude and actions of Phelps. There were several times when we saw Michael excited about victory but never in way that degraded the competition. Michael revealed a level of character and conduct that we seldom see in our age of professional athletes. I believe that the vast majority of professional baseball, basketball and football stars can learn more than a few lessons from Michael Phelps. I loved the fact that Michael was constantly elevating the members of his team above himself. I felt that Michael revealed a genuine humility when he was truly speechless at the stunning nature of his accomplishments.

Michael Phelps competed in eight different Olympic events and won them all. This was bordering on the impossible. This fact alone makes his achievements nothing short of stunning. Many people said that it simply "could not be done." I love it when negative people are proven wrong. Each day that swimming was in active competition, Phelps was pursuing his golden dreams and Olympic history. The thought of this is beyond my ability to comprehend the difficulty involved.

The

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