Who are they and why?
1. Michael Phelps (Aquatics/USA): Considered the best athlete in the world by many Olympic experts, Michael holds the current world record in seven swim events: 400m individual medley (4:03.84), 200m freestyle relay (1:42.96), 4x100m freestyle relay (3:08.24), 200m butterfly (1:52.03), 4x200m freestyle relay (6:58.56), 200m individual medley (1:54.23), 4x100m medley relay (3:29,34). On August 16, 2008 he also set an Olympic record in the 100m butterfly (50.58). A national hero in Maryland and the United States, he has won 16 Olympic medals. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he broke Mark Spitz’s 36-year-old record with eight Olympic gold medals. From 2004 to 2008, Michael Phelps won more Olympic gold medals than many countries (including Ireland, Luxembourg, Iceland, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, and Malaysia). Unlike Mark Spitz, Michael did not compete in the Pan American Games. Mike Celizic (sportswriter) wrote: “Phelps has already done things we’ve never seen before and are unlikely to ever see again. And he’s done it every time he’s left the starting grid. His 14 gold medals in his race are the record. In Beijing, he won eight gold medals, five of them solo and three as a member of two relay teams. He won two of the golds on the same day, and seven medals came with a new world record.”
2. Rafael Nadal (Tennis / Spain): The 22-year-old is one of the best tennis players in history. He became the first Spaniard to win the gold medal in Olympic tennis. The Spanish Rafael Nadal defeated the Chilean Fernando González, who won the bronze medal in the men’s singles tennis tournament at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens (Greece). In 2008, Rafael also won the French Open and the Wimbledon Tournament. Like most Spaniards, Rafael Nadal played soccer (football) when he was young. “I kept playing soccer in addition to tennis, but little by little I was playing more and more tennis with my uncle, says Nadal. But I still preferred soccer. That was my true love as a child.” In addition to his native language, he speaks English well enough for casual conversation. He says, “Sorry, my English is not that good. I only speak a quarter of an English. Maybe a quarter of a quarter. Not good.” World number one tennis player Rafael Nadal was born on June 3, 1986 in Manocor, Mallorca (Spain).
3. Usain Bolt (Athletics / Jamaica): He is an Olympic idol in the world. At the 2008 Beijing Games, Usain won two gold medals: 100 m (world and Olympic record) and 200 m (world and Olympic record). He set his first world record on August 16, when he ran the 100m in 9.69 seconds (he broke his own record). Just four days later, Usain set a new world record of 19.30 seconds in the 200m, breaking the old mark of 19.32 set by Michael Johnson (USA) in 1996. Usain Bolt was born on August 21, 1986 in Trelawny, Jamaica. Tim Layden – an American sportswriter – wrote: “Several American universities offered him athletic scholarships, but he turned them down.” Unlike many famous athletes, Usain trains and resides in Jamaica, birthplace of Donald Quarrie, Donovan Bailey, Patrick Ewing, Lennox Miller, George Kerr, Asafa Powell, Tessa Sanderson, Marlene Ottey. Usain Bolt loves Jamaica – it is the size of Connecticut – and the Caribbean countries. “I can’t live outside of Jamaica,” he says.
4. Yelena Isinbayeva (athletics/Russian): She has won consecutive Olympic gold medals in pole vault (Athens ’04 and Beijing ’08). In this century she broke 24 world records and several European records. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she broke her own world record with a vault of 5.05 meters. This athlete won five world championships between 2004 and 2008. Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena was born on June 3, 1982 in Volgograd, Russia. Her coach is Vitalii Afanasievich Petrov.
5. Lionel Messi (Soccer/Argentina): Like Ronaldinho (Brazil), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Luis Figo (Portugal) and Victor Naofor (Nigeria), Lionel Andrés Messi, better known as “la Pulga”, is one of the best players in the world. Under the leadership of Lionel Andrés Messi, Argentina qualified for the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Soccer Tournament for Men. In 2005, he led the Argentine team to the FIFA U-20 World Championship in the Netherlands. Argentina defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the final…
