“They [Thorpe and Phelps] are both massive global names. If they get on the blocks together then for me it will be the biggest event of the games,” Mark Foster told City A.M.
Foster--a.k.a. the Silver Fox, underwear model extraordinaire, and the man who carried the British flag in the 2008 Beijing opening ceremonies--is a well respected analyst in the Olympic world.
Foster's no fool. He understands Olympic media and the hype they fuel.
Phelps v Thorpe is an easy ticket to sell. It's the 14-time gold medalist versus the 5-time gold medalist in a bitter rematch.
PHELPS v THORPE HISTORY: Phelps, at the Athens Olympic Games, courageously faced-off with Thorpe in the 200 meters freestyle. The tender-aged Phelps, only 19 years old at the time, was being heralded as the new Olympic hope, the only man who could best Mark Spitz's 1972 peformance (7 gold medals). Thorpe, the reigning king at the time, scoffed, he can't do it, not with so much great competition in every event.
Phelps lost to Thorpe, capturing bronze in the 200 free, but Phelps did capture eight Olympic medals in Athens, six of them gold.
Four years later, in Beijing, Phelps told the Herald Sun, an Aussie media giant, he (Phelps) had used Thorpe's doubts about whether he could equal - or better - Spitz's historic 1972 tally as fuel for his Olympic campaign.
(Herald Sun photo, fanning the flames.)
In Beijing a rather portly Thorpe watched sheepishly from the stands as Phelps went eight-for-eight becoming the greatest Olympian in history.
FOSTER'S POINT: BOLT'S RUNNING ALONE
Foster explained to City A.M., “Everyone wants to see Usain Bolt. I want to see Usain Bolt too but it’s kind of a case of ‘how fast can Usain Bolt go?’ whereas those two (Phelps and Thorpe) on the block against each other is going to be a real scrap. I want to see competitive races when I watch sport; I don’t like seeing a demonstration, I want to see a race between the biggest names.”
A-men, Mr. Foster...couldn't have said it better myself.
(I swam, I swim, and as a swimmer I love swimming.)
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