Olympic Drama

Phelps is ripped (Photo: AP)

In my new drive to maintain sanity, I will not talk of the Russian war with Georgia, or of the US Volleyball coach's father who was stabbed to death in China, I will instead talk about the amazing 4x100 men's relay in which the USA swim team came from far behind to beat the French. It is one of the most amazing come-from-behind victories in Olympics history.

One of the beaten French swimmers, Amaury Leveaux, has the best quote about the race. But before you read it, picture in your mind the French racecar driver Jean Girard from the movie Talledega Nights (played by Sasha Cohen of Borat fame) and read it in his French accent. And before you do that, to put this quote in context, let me give you a quote the French swimmer Alain Bernard spewed before the race:

"The Americans? We're going to smash them. That is what we came here for."

Here's what Mssr. Leveaux, one of the French swimmers, said after the US anchor, Jason Lezak, overcame a full body-length deficit behind the smack-talking Bernard in the final 50m lap of the race [don't forget the accent]:

"A fingertip did the victory. It is nothing."

HA! Classic. Anyways, I'm sure that you've been salivating to see video of the US team serving up a large helping of irony to the French team. Go here for the video from NBC. (I'm sure you can find it on You Tube, but the quality is better here.)

As a post-script, you can hear in the video that Michael Phelps first (coherent) words, quotable here in all their American glory:

"That's what I'm talking about!"