Prolific Phelps and Thundering Bolt!!!!!!

The weekend at Beijing was defined by 2 men who are on top of their respective sports - Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.

Phelps found a way to where he is all alone, having won 8 Gold medals at the one Olympics. The 100m Butterfly finals was nail biting and defines the man Phelps - he fights to the end and never gives up and on more occasions than not, he comes out on top. Phelps turned at 50m in 7th position and the 8 Gold dream seemed distant at that stage, but he clawed his way back in his trademark style to take the Gold on the touch, from Serbian Milorad Cavic. There was only 1/100th of a second in that win. With that win, having equalled Mark Spitz 1972 record of 7 Golds, he entered the 4X100 medley relay as the butterfly swimmer and swam the crucial lap giving the Americans an unassailable lead and his 8th Gold. What a man!!!

Away from the Water Cube and inside the Birds nest, was another battle that I have been waiting for, for a few months now. The Mens 100m dash. The Semifinals were intersting too and the upset came in the 2nd SF when Tyson Gay failed to qualify for the Finals. That left just Bolt and Powell, the 2 heavyweights battling it in the Finals, or so I thought. The Finals was off to a smooth start and Usain Bolt was quick off the blocks. At half way mark, he was the clear leader. He thundered through the next 30 metres gaining a lead of almost 15m and then switched off, spread his hands and thumped his chest as he cruised to the finish line in World Record Time. It was the most fantastic and the most ridiculous race - at the same time - that I have ever seen. The man was toying with the field and had he not switched off with 20 m to go, he could well have gone 2/10th of a second faster. There was Usian Bolt and there were the rest. Theres more Thunder in store at Beijing. Micheal Johnsons 200m WR of 19.32 secs is very much under threat and there cant be a bigger stage to break that record. Usian Bolt made my weekend. Asafa Powell finished in 5th (just as in Athens). Perhaps the pressure of the Olympics finals got to him. Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tonago took Silver and Walter Dix of US took bronze.

The 4X100 relay is a mouth watering prospect, with 3 of the 4 Jamaicans featuring in the 100m Finals - Powell, Bolt and Michael Frater(who broke the 10 sec barrier for the first time in the finals).

The story for the Indians has not been as good, since Abhinav Bindras Gold. Lee and Hesh lost the Doubles QFs to Roger Federer and Stainislas Wawrinka, who went on to take Gold. I think Roger Federer was very upset that he lost the Singles and wanted to make sure he goes home with a Gold. Good on him!! As I write, Nadal is leading by a set in the Finals of the Mens tennis.

Bajranglal Thakar finished 3rd is the D category final of the Mens Sculls and was not good enough for a medal. Well done to him though. The only hope for India now is the Pugilist - Akhil Kumar in the Bantam weight boxing. He beat the reigning champion to progress. His fight is tomorrow. Two other boxers have made it to the QFs.

The Indian womens Heptatheletes disappointed with a below par performance. Pramila Ganapathy, Shobha Javur and Susmita Roy finished 28th , 30th and 33rd respectively. What disappoints me most is that the Indian athletes never put up a Personal Best (PB) at the highest level. They may not be medal hopes, but coming up with a PB at least is the way to go.

Hopefully the others can do that.

Week 2 at Beijing ........bring it on!!!!!