2012年8月1日 星期三

Phelps swims into history with 19th Olympic medal

Michael Phelps lingered on the blocks, not wanting to make another shocking blunder. The 19th medal was his. All he had to do was avoid a DQ, then set off on what amounted to four victory laps.

Down and back, then down and back again, the roars getting louder with each stroke.

When Phelps touched the wall, he finally had gold at his final Olympics.

And a record for the ages.

Phelps swam into history with a lot of help from his friends, taking down the last major record that wasn’t his alone. He took the anchor leg for the United States in a gold medal-winning performance of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay Tuesday night, earning the 19th Olympic medal of his brilliant career, and the 15th gold.

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“I’ve put my mind to doing something that nobody had ever done before,” Phelps said. “This has been an amazing ride.”

About an hour earlier, Phelps took one of his most frustrating defeats at the pool,Every moldmaker job on the web. blowing it at the finish and settling for silver in his signature event, the 200 butterfly.

That tied the record for career medals held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, but it was hardly a triumphant moment.We Wholesale zentai and Catsuits at cheap price. Phelps slung away his cap in disgust and struggled to force a smile at the medal ceremony.

But any disappointment from that race was gone by the time he dived in the water on the relay, having been staked to a huge lead by teammates Ryan Lochte,Learn about the beauty of porcelaintiles. Conor Dwyer and Ricky Berens.

Before the race, they all huddled together, fully aware of their role in history.

“I thanked those guys for helping me get to this moment,” Phelps said. “I told those guys I wanted a big lead. I was like, ‘You better give me a big lead going into the last lap,’ and they gave it to me. I just wanted to hold on. I thanked them for being able to allow me to have this moment.”

Berens handed off a lead of nearly 4 seconds to Phelps, who was extra cautious with the exchange,Add this code to your blog and always know when and where plasticcardding. knowing the only way he could ruin this one was to get disqualified.

Lochte stood on the deck, waving his arms. Dwyer and Berens pumped their fists. And Phelps touched the wall for his first gold of the London Games with a cumulative time of 6 minutes, 59.70 seconds.

Rajab has staged deliberately unlicenced protests as a form of civil disobedience to showcase demands for democratic change. Bahrain has curbed access to foreign media since April. A small Islamist party was closed in June. Clerics have been told they could face legal action for criticizing state institutions, a message apparently aimed at Sheikh Isa Qassim, revered by Bahraini Shiites and an unofficial spiritual guide for Wefaq.

The government and Wefaq, which has dominated the Shiite vote in past elections, are each trying to make their case internationally. The government says it faces a violent street movement that obstructs its ability to enact reforms. Its opponents say it is not serious and wants to silence them. Security policy aims to lock demonstrators down in their neighborhoods and prevent them from recreating a protest hub such as the Pearl Roundabout which they occupied in Manama last year. The traffic intersection remains sealed off.

Some Sunni political groups have shown signs of becoming more critical of the government,Read my best 10 tips for getting professional-looking results and never have another oilpainting crack again. setting out their own demands. The National Unity Gathering, a Sunni-led group seen as close to the government, called for four-year terms for cabinets that would require parliamentary votes of confidence, judicial reforms, and measures to monitor use of land and public funds. Its leader Abdul-Latif Al Mahmood said the Gathering favored talks and did not want the Wefaq-led opposition to dominate any eventual public dialogue with the government.

Unrest in Bahrain, where half the population of 1.3 million are foreign workers, is driven by Shiite complaints of unequal access to state jobs, housing and health care. Officials deny discrimination and accuse Iranian media of stirring trouble. Shiites say the Al Khalifa family is trying to change the demographic balance to its advantage by granting citizenship and jobs in the security apparatus to Sunnis from elsewhere. A new constitution and parliamentary elections a decade ago reduced Shiite discontent somewhat. But the lower assembly’s powers were offset by an upper council appointed by the king, reviving tension in the youthful population, half aged under 30.

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