MICHAEL PHELPS' DREAM TEAM

One world. One dream. That's the motto of these Olympic Games. But no one dream has united the world this week like Michael Phelps' quest for eight gold medals. Athletes from around the world woke up early Sunday morning and headed to the Water Cube to see Phelps make history. The entire U.S. swim team, wearing softball-style team jerseys with their names on the back, filled a section in the upper tier, away from the distraction of autograph-seeking fans and the over-caffeinated media. (But not all media, see below.) A few tiers down, athletes from Brazil, Australia, Canada and Spain filled the entire family section.

For once, it was tough to spot an empty seat in the house.

But Phelps biggest (and tallest) fans were sitting front and center for the race. Jason Kidd, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant showed up at 10 a.m. and sat with a group of Speedo reps, including Kate Rosinsky, director of merchandising and one of the brains behind the record-smashing Speedo suit. (It seems the Redeem Team cancelled practice so they could make the scene.) During the race, the group was as loud a cheering section as any. There was fist-pumping and screaming and after the win, there was hugging.

Throughout The Games, fans from around the world have talked about how accessible the U.S. basketball team has been. It was nice to finally see that firsthand. While waiting for the medal ceremony to begin, athletes and volunteers began pushing their way into the family section and inching their way closer and closer to LeBron and Co. They reached over security guards to ask for photos and passed stacks of white paper and pens with a request to, "sign, please." All three players agreed to every photo, signed every autograph and shook every hand. Never once did they look bothered by the attention, even when a woman began pulling on Kobe's shirt sleeve to get his attention and then nearly crushed him with a hug.

But during the medal ceremony, the commotion around them quieted as all eyes turned toward the podium. Not even the Dream Trio was bigger than this moment. When Phelps and his teammates walked out to accept their gold medals, Kidd pulled out his camera and started snapping photos. Kobe turned into one of those crazy fans he'd been dealing with five minutes earlier and began whistling and pumping his arms, screaming, "Yeah, Phelps!" LeBron never took his headphones out of his ears, but he never stopped clapping, either.

After the U.S. Relay Team was announced, the four men stepped up onto the podium and raised their flowers in the air. Bryant leaned across his row and tapped Kidd on the shoulder. When he had his attention, he looked at him, shook his head, and said, "Incredible. Just incredible."

Yeah, it really was. - A.R.


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As the world witnessed Michael Phelps' record-shattering eighth gold medal performance, perhaps no one was rooting harder for the American relay team than the rest of the United States swimming contingent.

You could field an entire farm system of world-class athletes with the American swimmers—each one in their own personalized "United States '08" jersey—who filled an area appropriately eight rows wide by 10 seats high atop the Water Cube. Throughout the event, they cheered on their teammates from the moment they entered the pool for the final day of swimming in Beijing.

"Let's Go Larsen on three," shouted gold medalist Garrett Weber-Gale, leading his fellow Olympians in support of Larsen Jensen before the start of the men's 1500m freestyle.

Although Kobe and LeBron scored much better seats, the U.S. swimmers/fans were happy to be together cheering on their friends as a team and snapping away on their digital cameras.

"It really gets you pumped up," said Ryan Lochte, owner of two golds and two bronzes from this Olympics, on watching his teammates perform. Indeed, the normally laid-back Lochte (who was teaching one coach how to text message in between races) let out several ear-piercing whistles down the stretch of Jason Lezak's final leg of the U.S.'s final gold.

Lochte added that it's sweeter watching the events with his teammates because, "Everyone's really close with each other."

That closeness was evident as Megan Jendrick tossed extra USA Swimming T-shirts across the section to her teammates. Gold medalist Cullen Jones joked around with Amanda Beard and Weber-Gale exchanged high-fives with everyone around him after Lezak was first to touch the wall in that now-historic final relay.

Although the races in the water are over, the U.S. team plan to hang out together until they leave Beijing on the 21st, said Lochte. In fact, the team's next scheduled event is to return a favor to a certain reigning NBA M.V.P. by attending a Redeem Team game together. While the U.S.A. hoops squad will undoubtedly move into the spotlight as The Games continue, for today, it was the Scream Team that ruled the pool. - B. W.

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