I'm Chia Wald and this is my blog. Here is where I share my thoughts and my art. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it isn't. That's life... and that's me. 
Recliner Man and I have been watching a lot of Olympic coverage on TV. Like so many others we have been caught up in Michael Phelps’ amazing performances as he attempts to win more gold medals in one Olympics than any other athlete.
Recliner Man and I both remember watching the 1972 Olympics when Mark Spitz won seven gold medals. Last night we were talking about it and wondering why he wasn’t in Beiging to see this record change hands to Michael Phelps. The announcers haven’t been able to talk about Phelps’ efforts without invoking the memory of Spitz and to us it seemed natural that they would have made Spitz part of this historic moment. This opinion was only slightly brought on my my desire to relive my 1972 crush by seeing Spitz on TV again.
Today I found an article online explaining his absence. It seems he has been snubbed and is none too happy about it. I don’t blame him at all.
Stumble it!
3 responses so far ↓
1 Kim Johnson // Aug 15, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Thanks for clearing up that mystery. I wonder what he did to make them snub him?
2 chia // Aug 15, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Kim, I’ve read that he wasn’t a friendly, team player kind of guy and that he was and is known for being arrogant. His comments about it being demeaning for him to fly himself to the Olympics as a regular spectator sound kind of arrogant but I think in this case he earned the right to be so. He way a major player in the history of the Olympics and we wouldn’t be so excited about Phelps breaking the record if Spitz hadn’t set it to begin with.
3 chia // Aug 15, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Yay! In the end they got it right. I just watched an interview with Bob Costas, Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz. It was a split screen affair with Phelps poolside and Spitz in the USA but they at least put them together and let the crown get passed in style. It was a real nice conversation with both swimmers showing a lot of class.
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