Michael Phelps, leading US swimmer, is on his fifth (5th) gold medal for this year's Beijing 2008 Olympics...[he'll be going for eight (8) gold medals for this year's Olympics.]
Usain Bolt (Jamaican track and field athlete) is predicted to win the gold medal in the men's 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay.
Asafa Powell (Jamaican track and field athlete) is also predicted to win gold in the men's 100 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay.
Usain Bolt is 21 years old...
Michael Phelps is 23 years old...
Asafa Powell is 26 years old...
But their attitudes re winning, are as divergent as the East is from the West.
Whilst in Jamaica, we're wondering if a young Usain Bolt, at age 21, can run in two (2) races (the 100 and 200 metres)...no one doubts Michael Phelps' ability to win eight (8) races (including heats.)
Why is this so?
Well their mental acumen is different...Phelps knows that he's got the stuff to win...
Bolt knows it too...but it seems that the people in Usain Bolt's camp are low achievers...so low, that:
1) I've heard this young man doubting himself...at the 100 metres...an event that he holds the world record in, and is very likely to win...can you imagine?
2) The decision for Bolt to run the 100 metres, just came two (2) weeks prior to the start of the Olympics.
Asafa, I feel, is even more divergent from both Bolt and Phelps, in that he wants to find every excuse not to do well, including his latest complaint that he's being tested too often in Beijing...
Michael Phelps has participated in events that are 10-15 minutes apart and has still managed to break world records...
But do Bolt and Powell have this level of stamina (both mentally and physically)?...hmmmmh...maybe they do, but their low-achieving coaches will never allow them to really test themselves.
...And hence we have this myth being propagated in Jamaica, that Usain Bolt may over-extend himself in going for three (3) gold medals.
And many low-achieving Jamaicans are believing it.
Hmmmmmh...well let's do the math..
Michael Phelps...a high achieving athlete, is now set for life, in that he already holds the record for the most gold medals won by a single athlete, in the Olympics.
He is estimated to be worth over USD $100 million (from sponsorship and endorsement money) and he is due £532,000 (USD $995,000) from his sponsors, Speedo, if he ties (in Beijing) with the seven (7) gold medals, earned by Mark Spitz in 1972.
...How many USD millions have both Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt earned so far?
Hmmmmmh...maybe it will be worth their while for them to extend themselves...don't you think?
You can see:
1) Michael Phelps' biography, here
2) Usain Bolt's biography, here
3) Asafa Powell's biography, here.
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Just an update re the events that Jamaicans have competed in, so far:
Alia Atkinson, Jamaican swimmer, came second (2nd) in Heat 2 of the Womens 200 Breaststroke swimming event, but unfortunately her time of 19.22, was not fast enough for her to qualify for the finals in the event.
Samantha Albert, Jamaica's first Equestrian entrant, had to settle for 52nd position out of 55, for the Eventing Individual Dressage Day 1 Evening event and 42nd out of 55, in the Eventing Individual Cross Country event.
I feel that both women have represented Jamaica well.
Gillian
Sources Include:
1) Article, "Michael Phelps redefining Olympic greatness", by Steve Kelley, the Seattle Times, August 12,2008.
2) Article,"Michael Phelps wins gold despite goggles fiasco",The Times, April 14,2008.
