One OneHundreth of a second!!


Something remarkable happened at the Beijing Olympics today. Michael Phelps from the USA won his seventh straight gold medal, thus tying the record for most number of medals in swimming

However, what made it so remarkable is that he beat second placed Milorad Cavic by one one hundreth of a second...yes not 10 seconds , not one second or one tenths of a second but one one hundreth(1/100). I saw the race and phelps was behind most of the race. However , at the last couple of yards he peformed a halfstroke while the leader at that time allowed his hands to relax and used the thrust to finish.

The result, phelps touched the board at 50.57 seconds and cavic at 50.58.(Even though phelps thought by doing such a move he would have lost)

I found that to be harsh, maybe in another time phelps wouldnt have won. I mean you have given it all and at the last step when you think you have beaten a top athele..you loose! But as it does, he will be in the record books forever. But he is a great athelete and i guess thats how i took a second look at the whole episode.

You can never win just by hard work, discipline and good attitude. Well not always. There are forces beyond your control and i guess that was evident today. It was not as if phelps did not deserve to win. He did and he would probably win many more but i guess as the old saying goes
" The harder you work the better your luck". or " Do your best and leave the rest to God" That was what happened.

Eventually that always happens and i guess thats why sports&the olympics are so widely acclaimed...even after all the doping and bribing scandals. These stories of triumph will always live on.

Keep the Faith...