The Beijing Olympics are one to remember

 

Roar Rookie

By Mohammed Patel, 25 Aug 2008 Mohammed Patel is a Roar Rookie

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 Beijing Olympics 2008, Michael Phelps, Olympics, Stephanie Rice, Usain Bolt

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You can say whatever you want about China’s pollution and human rights records, but the 2008 Beijing Olympics has brought out some of the best athletic performances in the history of the modern Games.

Arguably, the greatest performance in Olympic history was achieved by Jamaican runner, Usain Bolt.

Bolt, aka “the lighting bolt” has been hailed the fastest man in the history of our planet after breakng the 100 and 200m sprint world records.

The Jamaican first smashed the 100m WR in a time of 9.69s before repeating the feat in the 200, breaking Michael Johnson’s 12-year-standing record of 19.32s by two-hundredths of a second.

Bolt joined a select elite group of only eight other Olympians to win gold in both events, however he became the only Olympian to break both world records in doing so.

If that wasn’t enough for the 22-year-old to stamp his name in sporting and Olympic history, Bolt and his team-mates took to the 400m relay where they broke USA’s 16-year WR in a time of 37.10s.

Michael Phelps’ performance in the pool was equally, if not more, spectacular.

Phelps became the first person in the history of the modern Olympics to win eight gold medals in a single campaign, beating Mark Spitzs’ 1972 record of seven.

Of his eight races, Phelps broke seven world records and increased his total Olympic gold medal count to 14, the highest for any Olympian in history.

The feat has been raising questions about whether Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever.

Meanwhile, our own Stephanie Rice has stamped her name amongst Australia’s greatest ever swimmers.

The Brisban-ite, in her first Olympics, took home three gold medals, becoming only the seventh Australian woman to do so.

With more hard work, discipline and a little bit of luck, 20-year-old Rice could extend her Olympic gold medal count to as many as six at the 2012 London games, putting her alongside Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett as one of our greatest athletes.