The story of the 2008 Olympic games has been American swimmer Michael Phelps. The 23-year old Baltimore, Maryland native was the third swimmer for the U.S. in the 4×100m medley relay. Phelps helped the Americans to a gold medal in the event, and in the process became the only athlete ever to win eight gold medals at any Olympics.

After the event, Bob Costas gave us this golden nugget before NBC went to commercial:

“As we told you at the beginning of the Games, eight is a lucky number in China. Well, they started the Olympics at eight o’clock on 8/8/08 and the biggest individual headliner of these games has gone eight-for-eight.”

Wow… dynamite drop-in, Bob. Did you come up with that one all on your own? Costas’ “golden” quote came just after NBC showed video footage of the Baltimore Ravens’ stadium where fans were watching the event on the big screen.

It’s an amazing feat for Phelps. I wonder how many medals he will win in 2012?

Photo: Newscom

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Phelps gets number eight

In just about 40 minutes, Phelps will be just diving into the pool at his chase for legendary status. There are some people who don’t want Phelps to stop swimming (see NBC ratings). But all good things have to come to an end. And whether Phelps and the Americans win or lose the 4×100m medley relay, he will undoubtedly be the talk of the 2012 Olympics. But for now, we can only wait for this race.

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