Michael Phelps Ties Mark Spitz Olympic Record Medal Count

On August 16, 2008, U.S. Olympics Michael Phelps ties Mark Spitz Olympic record medal count in remarkable fashion.

Without a doubt, the biggest storyline of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was that of American swimmer Michael Phelps, who was vying to win a record eight gold medals. At the previous Olympics, he had finished with six gold and two bronze, and now that he had perfected his training regiment and was a little bit older, experts believed it was his year. His expectations were not modest, as anything but a perfect eight-for-eight would be deemed a failure.

In his seventh event, Phelps competed in the 100-meter butterfly. If he won, he would tie fellow American Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals at the Munich Olympics in 1972. 50 meters into the race, Phelps' quest for perfection was in enormous trouble, as he was in seventh place as they swam to the finish. But Phelps made up an enormous deficit and was neck-and-neck with Serbian swimmer Milorad Cavic as they neared the finish.

With just a few feet to go, Cavic was clearly ahead of Phelps; but he tried to glide to the wall, while Phelps made the crucial decision to attempt a half-stroke. Phelps' maneuver worked and allowed him to close the gap. 

In an unbelievably close finish, both men placed their hands on the wall sensor at almost exactly the same time. 

When both men emerged from the water, they stared at the scoreboard in anticipation, as neither knew who would come away with the gold. The results finally emerged, and the Americans in the crowd cheered ecstatically: Phelps, with a record time of 50.58 seconds, had beaten Cavic by 0.01 seconds.

''I'm really at a loss for words,'' he told reporters. ''I'm excited. I just don't know what to say.''

Serbian swimming officials immediately filed a protest, but they dropped their appeal after seeing the footage of the race. The race was so close that even still pictures of it appeared inconclusive. 

But Olympic officials looked over the material and confirmed that after several reviews, Phelps had indeed won the race.

Cavic described the loss as "devastating," but he tried to assure that he was satisfied in defeat. ''I'm stoked with what happened," he said.

"I'm very, very happy. I don't want to fight this. It is a gold medal at stake. It's a difficult thing to lose, but you have to understand I came into this competition with the goal to win a bronze medal. I went my best time and did better than bronze. I got silver and almost got gold.''

The next day, Phelps completed his mission by winning his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics -- an amazing feat considering that in his second-to-last event, he was just a few hundredths of a second from losing.

United States Wins FIFA Women's World Cup

On July 10, 1999, in front of a Rose Bowl crowd of 90,185, one of the greatest moments in female athletics occurs, as the United States women's soccer team beats China to win the FIFA Women's World Cup. The score was tied at zero at the end of regulation, but on penalty kicks, the U.S. won 5-4. The game-winning kick, and one of the most replayed highlights in history, came from America's Brandi Chastain, who launched the soccer ball just right of Chinese goalie Gao Hong.

As the American crowd erupted, as the United States team raced onto the field in celebration, Chastain whipped off her shirt and twirled it in the air, revealing a black Nike sports bra. The image of Chastain's celebration would grace the cover of Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Newsweek.

It was a phenomenal moment in women's sports. Soccer was said to be irrelevant in America, and women's team sports had been nothing but obscure. But here was a case where a combination of the two had somehow worked.

The crowd of 90,185 was the largest for a women's sporting event ever, while an additional 40 million people watched the World Cup Final on ABC, the largest TV audience ever for a soccer game in America. The team was so huge that even president Bill Clinton was on hand for the final match. The men's soccer team, which had never even come close to winning the World Cup, couldn't approach that if they tried. The women were undeniably better than the men.

Just two years later, the Women's United Soccer Association, the world's first female professional soccer league, played its first game. The league was founded in an attempt to capitalize on the success of the U.S. women's te

am; some believed that the championship game proved that an all-women soccer league could be legitimized in this country. However, even though the league featured many of that team's players, such as Mia Hamm, Briana Scurry, and Chastain, the WUSA failed to reach its expectations. The league incurred zero mainstream attention, and in 2003, the league was forced to fold after accumulating close to $100 million in losses.

Lake Placid Winter Olympics Kick Off

On Feb. 14, 1980, the thirteenth Winter Olympic games, a multi-sport event which was celebrated from Feb. 13 through Feb. 24 in Lake Placid, New York. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932. 

The only other candidate city to bid for the Games was Vancouver-Garibaldi, British Columbia, Canada; which withdrew before the final vote.

The mascots of the Games were "Roni" and "Ronny", two raccoons. The mask-like rings on a raccoon's face recall the goggles and hats worn by many athletes in winter sports.

The sports were played at the Olympic Center (later renamed Herb Brooks Arena), Whiteface Mountain, Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run, the Olympic Ski Jumps, the Cascade Cross Country Ski Center, and the Lake Placid High School Speed Skating Oval.

The East Germans won the most medals with 23 total including nine Gold medals, seven Silver medals and seven Bronze medals.

The Soviet Union had one less medal than East Germany with 22, but had the most Gold medals with 10. They also had earned six Silver medals and six Bronze medals.

The United States finished third in total medal count with 12, earning six Gold medals, four Silver medals and two Bronze medals.

The most notable highlight of the Games involved the United States men's ice hockey team. The team was composed mostly of collegiate players and was not predicted to advance beyond group play.

They won the gold medal, defeating the heavily favored Soviet team and Finland in the medal round. The United States team's 4–3 win over the Soviet team, which came into the 1980 Games having won four consecutive Olympic gold medals, became known as the "Miracle on Ice" in the U.S. press.

The win captured the hearts of Americans during a time of Cold War tensions, even though it was the win against Finland that captured the gold medal. A film about the event, called Miracle, was released in 2004.

Other notable highlights included

Lake Placid 1980 marked the first use of artificial snow in Olympic competition.

Cyprus made their Olympic debut at the 1980 Winter Olympics. The People's Republic of China and Costa Rica both made their Winter Olympic debut. The Republic of China had boycotted the Games over the IOC's recognition of the PRC as "China", and its request for the Republic of China to compete as "Chinese Taipei".

Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark won both the giant slalom and the slalom.

Hanni Wenzel won the women's giant slalom and slalom, making Liechtenstein the smallest country to produce an Olympic champion.

Ulrich Wehling of East Germany and Irina Rodnina of the USSR won their respective events for the third time.

Aleksandr Tikhonov of the USSR earned his fourth straight gold medal.

Nikolay Zimyatov of the USSR earned three gold medals in cross-country skiing.

Eric Heiden of the United States won 5 gold medals in speedskating (500m, 1,000m, 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m), setting 4 Olympic records and 1 world record (10,000m) in the process. Heiden was the first to win 5 individual gold medals at one Winter Games.

Robin Cousins won gold for Great Britain in the men's singles figure skating.

The closing ceremonies were held indoors at the Herb Brooks Arena.

In possibly the most dramatic duel of the games, Sweden's Thomas Wassberg edged Finland's Juha Mieto in the 15 km cross-country skiing by 0.01 seconds, the closest margin of victory ever in Olympic cross-country skiing. This led the International Ski Federation (ISF) to time all events to the nearest 1/10 second in the future.

This years' Winter Olympics in Sochi are kicking off and currently the United States is trailing only Norway in medal count with 12 to their Norwegians 14. It also marked only the third time in Olympic history that the United States swept the podium in a single discipline with three Americans atop the podium on Men's skiiing slopestyle.

Nagano Olympics Open

On Feb. 7, 1998, the Opening Ceremonies for the 18 Winter Olympic games open at Nagano, Japan.

Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participants, 1,389 men and 757 women, contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues.

The Games saw the introduction of women's ice hockey, curling and snowboarding. National Hockey League players were allowed to participate in the men's ice hockey again.

The ’98 games are most remembered for Bjorn Dæhlie’s performance. He won three gold medals in cross-country skiing, making him the most-winning Winter Olympic competitor ever, becoming the first winter Olympics athlete to earn eight career gold medals and twelve total medals.

Alpine skier Hermann Maier survived a fall in the downhill and went on to win gold in the super-G and giant slalom.

The Netherlands won five of the ten speed skating events, including two each by Gianni Romme and Marianne Timmer. Canada beat Denmark in the women's curling final, securing the latter their first Winter Olympic medal ever.

Women's ice hockey was contested at the Olympic games for the first time ever, and the United States beat the Canadians 3–1 for the gold medal. United States went undefeated in the women's tournament. The Czech Republic defeated Russia by a score of 1–0 for the men's gold medal, while Finland won both the men's and women's bronze medals for ice hockey.

Cross-country skier Bjorn Dæhlie’s of Norway won three gold medals in Nordic skiing to become the first winter Olympian to earn eight career gold medals and twelve total medals.

Curling returned as an official sport, after having been demoted to a demonstration event after the inaugural Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924

Snowboarding debuted as an official sport.

Players from the NHL were able to compete in men's ice hockey due to a three-week suspension of the NHL season.

Tara Lipinski, 15, narrowly beat Michelle Kwan in women's figure skating to become the youngest champion in an individual event in the history of the Winter Olympics.

Alpine skier Hermann Maier (Austria) survived a fall in the downhill and went on to gold in the super-g and giant slalom.

Speed skaters Gianni Romme and Marianne Timmer won two gold medals each for the Netherlands; 5 out of 10 titles in speed skating went to the Netherlands.

Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati (Canada) won the gold medal, after initially being disqualified for testing positive for marijuana.

Azerbaijan, Kenya, the Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela made their first appearance at the Olympic Winter Games.

Denmark won their first winter Olympic medal (and only one to date) when they won a silver medal in the women's curling event.

Australia won their first individual Winter Olympic medal when Zali Steggall won bronze in the women's slalom.

Germany won the most medals and the most gold medals in the Olympics with 29 total, 12 Gold medals, nine silver medals and eight bronze medals.

Norway finished second in total medal count and Gold medals, with 25 medals, 10 Gold, 10 Silver and five bronze.

Russia finished third in total medals and Gold medals, with 18 total, nine Gold, six Silver and three Bronzes.

Canada finished fourth overall in total medal count with 15, six Gold, five silver and four bronze.

The United States finished fifth in total medal count with 13 and tied for fourth in Gold medals with Canada, six. The United States also finished with three silver medals and four bronze medals.

Host country Japan finished seventh overall in total medal count with 10 medals, and tied for six with five Gold medals. Japan finished with only one Silver and four Bronze medals.

The United States were the leading nation in athletes appearing in the Olympic games with 186. The next closest was Japan with 156.

Eleven countries; Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Cyprus, India, Iran, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela only had one athlete compete in the games.

Fourteen countries; the Bahamas, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Gambia, Guam, Guinea-Bissau, Laos, Lebanon, Kuwait, Netherlands Antilles and Tajikistan all registered to take part in the games but did not send a team.

The 2014 Winter Games, the 22nd running of the Winter Olympics kicked off at Sochi in Russia last night with men’s figure skating. The games will continue through last February with most coverage coming on NBC.