Previously on 2012 in Baltimore: The Buckle Up Birds pulled off a Cinderella Run that many in all of Major League Baseball did not expect. They went from a team missing the playoffs for 13 straight years only to pull off one of the biggest upsets in playoff history during the Wild Card Round. However the clock struck midnight in the ALDS against those Damn Yankees. The excitement of the city of Baltimore was at fever pitch. But our next story, even though it’ll be shorter than the O’s piece, features the Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time cementing his status as an American Sports Icon.
Bragging Sports Presents
A Maryland Culture Production
Michael Phelps, Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, JJ Hardy, Jim Johnson, Buck Showalter, Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, Anquan Boldin, John Harbaugh and many more.
2012 IN BALTIMORE
Part 2: An Olympic Icon Cements His Legacy
Chapter 1: Setting the Stage
Narrator: Michael Phelps, when you hear that name, what image comes to your mind? You think of him dominating the 2004 Olympics in Athens, you think of him breaking World Records while being blindfolded thanks to having massive amounts of water in his goggles, and you think of a guy who became everything an American Swimmer had dreamed to be and much more. If you were to tell most Team USA fans what his defining moment was, it was the Beijing Olympics where he didn’t lose a single event all summer. (That was Prime Phelps) I don’t see it that way. To me as a Maryland Native, the defining moment of the Greatest Olympian of All Time came at the London 2012 Summer Games. Where he broke the All Time Record for Most Medals won during an Olympic Career by a Single Athlete. The XXX Olympiad was another in a long line of Summer Games which was headlined by the United States. That year Team USA was at the height of its powers with 104 medals overall in the 17 day event with 47 of them being gold. The headliners on this God Squad were the Mens and Womens Basketball Teams anchored by LeBron, Kobe, KD, Candace Parker, and Sue Bird. Both teams won their medals convincingly which most pundits unanimously predicted would happen. As for the American Swim Team going into the London Games, they were expected to win the most medals by a good margin. However right on cue they would face challenges from host nation Great Britain, plus longtime rivals in China, Germany, France, Russia, and North American neighbor Canada. (Plus 2 Cinderella Stories in South Africa and Hungary) The first event would be 400 Meter Freestyle which was claimed by China’s Sun Yang who won the Gold Medal race by 2.5 seconds. Following an uneventful 100 Meter Breaststroke, the much anticipated 400 Meter IM was about to take place. The 2 favorites were Phelps and American Teammate Ryan Lochte who like Phelps was coming off a dominating performance of his own in Beijing 4 years prior. The Individual Medley would turn out to be the low point for Phelps in London but that was mostly due to him running out of gas thanks to going way too fast during warmups. Luckily for Team USA Lochte claimed the Americans 1st Gold Medal in the Swimming Department. So far, Phelps was a bit rusty, but that was no shock considering that he at the time was considering retirement after the 2012 Games were over. But then he would once again silence the doubters.
Chapter 2: Phelps Passes Latynina
Team USA got off to a shaky start especially since Ryan Lochte wasn’t able to crack the podium after an outstanding Semi-Final performance in the 200 Meter Freestyle. But that fueled their fire even more. Michael Phelps had the same feeling. In the 200 Butterfly he came within a second of winning gold yet lost to Chad le Clos of South Africa. (The Unexpected Storyline of the entire Olympics) After 3 events where he had come up short of gold already in these games, Phelps would get his chance in the 800 Meter Freestyle Relay. And it would not only be for his first gold medal of the London Olympics, but to pass Legendary Russian Gymnast Larisa Latynina, as the most decorated athlete in Olympic History. Latynina’s record of 18 Total Medals had stood for 48 years. But now, Phelps was on the verge of putting that previous record to bed. In a matter of time the moment would come. “Take your mark. (BEEP!)” First in the water for Team USA was Lochte who like in his 400 IM took an early lead by using the dolphin kicking while coming off multiple serious flipturns to his advantage. (Lochte and flipturns. A deadly 1-2 combo) Following Lochte’s fast start, Conor Dwyer entered the pool with a 1 second lead, and made it stand up despite getting fast competition from the Germans over in Lane 3. Once the 3rd 200 came around it was clear that the US wasn’t going to lose. Ricky Berens pretty much was the difference thanks taking a huge lead in between the 450 and 500 Meter mark. Then came the moment everyone was waiting for. At any moment, Phelps would break the unbreakable record. Announcer 1: “The great one in the water. Chasing the All Time Olympic Record of 19 Medals and a 15th Gold. What a lead he’s got. If the USA with Phelps in the water, Agnel of France, the 200 Individual Champion is in 2nd place, and Rapp goes in for Germany, and Davenport for Britain, Napoleon for Australia, Sun Yang goes in for China, expecting to be very strong.” Announcer 2: It’s going to be worth having a look at this World Record as well. Michael Phelps only needs to go around 1:44, and he’s really lifting to this occasion to being really close to that World Record. Look at him bringing the big kick. This is what we are used to seeing. Michael Phelps, it’s a loping stroke to beat 6:50. Sitting beautifully high on the water.” Narrator: Looks like Phelps can taste the record now. Announcer 1: “USA with this huge lead over France 2.84, it is insurmountable, but Agnel is making sure they get the Silver. He can see Phelps now, he’s 2.5 lengths behind him.” Announcer 2: “Around a 51 second 1st 100 for Michael Phelps, so that was a very fast 1st 100 makes it a 200 Meter Split.” Announcer 1: Sun Yang has moved into 3rd place for China. Phelps, about to turn. Announcer 2: Butterfly, underwater kicking, he’ll stay on that, there’s the 50 Meter marker with the red dot on the lane line. History.” Announcer 1: It is, so Michael Phelps with Yannick Agnel chasing him hard, its history of the best kind. So in over 100 years. (7 Nation Army playing) Nobody has won as many medals in the Olympic Games in Any Sport than this “Great Champion” Michael Phelps. He makes it 19 tonight and a 15th Gold. It’s a place nobody has been to before.” Ladies and Gentlemen this is History in the Making at long last. The record they thought wouldn’t even be sniffed has fallen on the night of July 31, 2012. And as expected Phelps gave most of the credit to his fellow teammates especially Dwyer and Berens who excelled following a fast start from Lochte. Even with the Medal Record on his side, Phelps wasn’t done yet. He wanted to beat his good buddy Ryan Lochte in the 200 IM.
Chapter 3: The 200 IM
Phelps, and Lochte. Perhaps the 2 greatest American Swimmers Ever. Both of them were at the height of their powers in 2012. So what better way for them to both share the spotlight, than in 200 IM. Phelps figured that if Lochte won the 400 IM, he could win the 200 IM. The 2 of them appeared to overpower the rest of the field. But once the race started, things were up for grabs. “Take your mark. BEEP!” Even if a majority of the crowd was behind Great Britain’s James Goddard, he would be no match for the 2 top heavy Americans. As expected Phelps and Lochte were 1-2 after the 50 Butterfly, then came Backstroke. It appeared as if Phelps was pulling away considering that he got a better push off the wall, but Lochte while trying to fight off 2 serious challengers stayed close. Then in the 50 Breaststroke, Lochte caught up, as you’d expect, this would be another classic finish in an Olympic Games full of them. Here is how it played out… “Can Phelps get some momentum here? It’s a good lead. It’s 7 tenths. We know what a great freestyler he is. Pereira 2nd, Lochte 3rd.” Come on Michael, YOU CAN FINISH IT NOW! “Lochte coming hard, can Phelps hang on? He’s got everything else in the sport. Can he win the 1 event for the 3rd time? 2 women have done it. No male has done it. Phelps holding Lochte. The Greatest of All Time. Iconic Figure, writes his way into the history books yet again.” Medal #20 and Gold #16 for the GOAT. Not even his good buddy could pull off an epic comeback. This is what happens when you face Michael Phelps. You have to have a perfect game to beat him basically. If you don’t you’re in trouble. Everyone outside of the United States had to learn this the hard way. Even then despite overcoming a bad showing the 400 IM, Phelps still had unfinished business on his mind. He desperately wanted to get payback on Chad le Clos in the 100 Meter Butterfly.
Chapter 4: The 200 Butterfly Revenge Match
There was still one more event that Phelps would be in. That was the 100 Meter Butterfly. This time he would get his chance to upend Chad le Clos and win Medal #20. Many considered this his final Olympic Event of his career at the time so they all thought this would be it. (I knew he would come back for the Rio 2016 games) But anyways, let’s see how the grudge match went. Phelps as expected is doing his usual warm up routine, he gets up on the blocks, and waits for his chance.“Take your mark. BEEP!” Early on Phelps was stuck in the middle of the pack which was uncharacteristic by his standards. But knowing him for all these years Phelps wasn’t going to give up easily. He fought his way right back into this race at the end of the 1st 50. Then once the flip turn came. BOOM! The GOAT would be off to the races. But this would be a close call. “There’s a lot to do for the champ. A whole lot to do. Deibler leads Cavic, Phelps I don’t know. The close is coming on hard. Michael I don’t know. He’s coming for a run at Deibler. It’s going to be close with Deibler, Cavic, and le Clos. He’s coming hard, Phelps. There’s still a chance. There’s a real big chance. Can he do it again? He hits it and he does. Remarkable. Stunning.” That call on NBC says it all. You just knew he would come back at the last minute and make everyone go “WHAT?” Even the Announcers were in awe of Phelps and his 2nd 50 heroics. That right there would be Gold Medal #17. It may have been slower than his time in Semis but hey at least he got Gold. That was a close call indeed because 5 guys including de Clos, and Milorad Cavic were right on his tail at the end yet still couldn’t win. That right there says it all. This Olympic Games for Phelps may not be as good as 2004 or 2008 was, but when it came to sementing his legacy, nothing topped his performance in London during the 2012 games. Plus he went through the Baltimore Sports Cycle. Get doubted after a rough start, things are never easy, you have to do the unthinkable, and then you just make it look easy and get to the top. That’s Michael Phelps. And that is what an athlete in this town should be like. Phelps would eventually close out his legendary career in 2016 by extending his long line of medals to 27 with 22 of them being Gold in Rio. But his record breakers in 2012 will be moments that will be talked about for a long time to come. Think about it. 27 medals, no one in any Olympic Sport has more. The optimism in Baltimore at this point was sky high. The Orioles had their unexpected run, Phelps broke Latynina’s record of 18 medals, and all of this occurred before the start of September. You know why that month is so significant to Marylanders. It’s because the football season was about to begin. The fact that the city was already in the National Spotlight even before the Ravens began the 2012 NFL Season told you something big was beginning to happen in Charm City. Little did everyone know that these 2 stories would become appetizers to the most emotional series of events in Maryland Sports History.
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