BEIJING -- Carl Lewis, the American track and field star of the 1980s and 1990s, said, "The reality is, congratulations."
Michael Phelps won his sixth gold medal of the Beijing Games on Friday, tying his Athens mark and closing in on Mark Spitz's record. Phelps blew away the 200m IM field and set a world record.
Soviet-era gymnast Larisa Latynina, in a note, wrote to say, "You have shattered all sort of records with truly inspiring Olympic character."
And Mark Spitz, the American swimmer whose 1972 mark of seven gold medals in one Olympics Michael Phelps broke with his eighth on Sunday, said, "When I look at Michael and I think of the lore of what he has done over the last four years -- it's more remarkable than myself."
As Phelps' completed his quest to make history, those who made history before him paused Friday in appreciation -- not only to reflect on the magnitude of what the 23-year-old swimmer from Baltimore has already accomplished here at the Water Cube but to unhesitatingly and unreservedly offer praise.
Even -- make that especially -- Spitz, one of four athletes who, before these Beijing Games, was tied atop the record books with nine career Olympic gold medals apiece.
The others: Paavo Nurmi, a Finnish distance star of the 1950s who died in 1973; Latynina, who won nine gold, five silver and four bronze medals in gymnastics and still holds the mark for most career medals, 18; Lewis; and Spitz.
"In ceding my record for most Olympic gold medals, I do it with little regret," Latynina, now 73, wrote in a letter to Phelps she had sent Friday afternoon by fax.
"I am sure," she added, "we share the joy of competition and a timeless joy for excellence."
Lewis, now 47, said in a telephone interview of his nine golds, "I did mine last century. Michael is taking off this new century. He's a great leader for the Olympic movement. I know him personally, I think he's a great kid and I wish him congratulations."
Asked if he believed Phelps ought now to be considered the greatest Olympic athlete of all time or if he -- or someone else -- deserves that title, Lewis said, "I don't really believe that exists. Everybody brought something to the table.
"I say, wow, we have somebody else who's amazing. Let's just tune in -- that's where I am."
In a telephone interview Friday, Spitz said of Phelps, "I've always marveled at the fact that in the last four years," in the aftermath of the 2004 Athens Games, in which Phelps won six golds, eight overall, "he has had to live with a lot more expectations and anxiety that I had to deal with.
"I was under the radar circle. Only in swimdom circles did people understand what I was trying to do. And only after four days of an eight-day competition did people from other venues start to understand what was happening at the swim venue in Germany."
For months now, Spitz, 58, has waged a campaign to convince those who need convincing that he genuinely, truly appreciates Phelps' achievements.
In Omaha in early July, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, for instance, Spitz, in a news conference, said, "Hey, it's OK -- records are made to be broken, including mine. Thirty-six years is a long time."
Spitz's efforts ran into a glitch earlier this week when an interview he conducted in Hong Kong with Agence France Press noted that he would not be here in Beijing and quoted him as saying, "I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That's almost demeaning to me. It is not almost -- it is."
Spitz said Friday the words came in response to a hypothetical question and suggested the article included some "poetic license."
He said, "After having done hundreds and hundreds of articles and interviews with people over the last six months, it was bound to happen -- some article taking off in a different direction. I don't begrudge that happening. This is part of the process of interpretive evaluation."
He also said of his remarks, "It was never done to embarass Michael."
The reasons Spitz are not in Beijing are simple.
For one, sponsor obligations didn't include a trip here.
For another, Spitz doesn't automatically go to every edition of the Summer Games. He didn't go to Seoul in 1988 or Barcelona in 1992, for instance.
Moreover, it would be presumptuous in the extreme for anyone to invite Spitz to Beijing on the assumption Phelps would win eight -- indeed, that would be demeaning to Phelps' rivals.
Even with six medals in hand, eight is no sure thing. Phelps must contend Saturday in the 100m butterfly with longtime rival Ian Crocker. If Phelps wins that race, there's the 4x100m medley relay -- and, in a relay, anything can happen.
Finally, there's this: Spitz is due to fly to Michigan this weekend to watch his teen-age son play basketball.
In the meantime, Phelps won eight gold medals Beijing. And, beyond that, probably, the London Games in 2012. He now stands at 16 Olympic medals overall for his career. Just two shy of Latynina's all-time mark.
"We're watching," Spitz said. "It's amazing."
Original here
