Oprah Winfrey taped the 23rd season premiere of her daytime talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago, IL yesterday. For the momentous event, Oprah invited 150 US Olympic athletes who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China to help kick off this new season of her show:

Thousands of spectators cheered Olympic medalists Michael Phelps, Dara Torres and Kobe Bryant on Wednesday as the city of Chicago got a high-profile boost to its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Oprah Winfrey was taping the season premiere for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” at a downtown park, and she invited 150 U.S. Olympic athletes to join her. The athletes were introduced under a shower of red, white and blue confetti. Winfrey intends the show to be both a welcome home for athletes who competed in Beijing and also a chance to showcase Chicago as the city bids for the 2016 Games, said Harpo Productions … The 23rd season premiere of Winfrey’s talk show will air Monday. Chicago is a finalist for the 2016 Games along with Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Madrid, Spain. The International Olympic Committee will choose the 2016 host next year.

People.com has some scoop on what will transpire in next Monday’s season premiere ep:

Even face-to-face with Oprah Winfrey, Michael Phelps remains mum on the topic of his private life. But in terms of Olympic-sized revelations, Nastasia Liukin admits she gained inspiration from The Secret, while Kobe Bryant confessed to his surprise at finding he has so many fans in China … “It’s good to be back on American soil,” said Phelps, 23, grinning shyly and wearing only one of the eight gold medals he took home for swimming. Asking the most pressing question, “Are you single?,” Winfrey was told by Phelps, “I try to keep my private life private.” Bryant, joined by others on the winning men’s basketball team, said the players made a conscious effort to bring back gold and remedy what had become the sullied reputation of American players. “We made it a personal challenge. It was a priority” to take arrogance out of the game, he told Winfrey. In response to all the attention he received from adoring Chinese fans, Bryant, 30, admitted, “It caught me off guard” … Liukin, 18, cited the inspiration she received from The Secret, a self-help book popularized on Winfrey’s show. Recalling her pre-China prep, “I said, ‘I guess I should read it, Oprah read it,’ ” said the winning athlete. As for Torres – at 41, the winner of three silver medals in Beijing – the swimmer and mother of a 2-year-old said age shouldn’t limit one’s dreams. “All the mothers out there are my role models,” she said.

Oprah always does things in a big way, none of this surprises me at all. I do think it’s brilliant that she is using the fame of her show to help Chicago’s Olympic bid. I would love it if Chi-town won the the 2016 Olympics … if so, I’d make sure to attend some portion of the games, Chicago is so close to Detroit. I don’t make it a habit to watch The Oprah Winfrey Show (like my BFF Sarah does) but I’ll be watching this one. It looks too good to miss.

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David Beckham, who was joined by Brits Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page, made an appearance at the Closing Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China yesterday where all he had to do was look purdy and kick a soccer ball … but it turns out that Becks may have more Olympic dreams than that up his sleeve. Altho there is really no way that Becks could feasibly participate in the 2012 Olympic Games as an athlete, he is still hoping that he will be able to participate in the Games — as coach of the UK soccer team:

SUPERSTAR David Beckham kicked off the countdown to the London Olympics — and revealed he could be a COACH for Team GB in 2012. Becks sent 91,000 spectators into a frenzy at Beijing’s National Stadium when he appeared from within a red London bus at yesterday’s closing ceremony. Nine-year-old London schoolgirl Tayyiba Dudhwala handed him a football, and a deafening roar erupted as the smiling England ace kicked the ball into a crowd of Olympic athletes below him. The appearance by Beckham — a global sporting icon born just down the road from our Olympic site in the East End — was the highlight of London’s performance celebrating the official handover from Beijing. The eight-minute showcase for Britain also featured X Factor winner Leona Lewis, in a stunning gold dress, performing Whole Lotta Love with Led Zeppelin rock legend Jimmy Page. Afterwards, Beckham revealed he could coach an all-star GB footie team at the 2012 games, with his old Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as manager. Britain has been barred from Olympic football because England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete separately in international matches. But Mr Brown is determined to resolve the issue and has held talks with footie’s governing body FIFA. LA Galaxy midfielder Becks said: “We deserve to have a football Team GB at the Olympics and I hope it gets sorted.” Becks will be 37 in 2012 and says it is unlikely he will play. But asked if he would take a key role, he said: “I think it’s possible.”

2012 is still a long way off so it may be too early to know for sure exactly what, if any, role Becks may play in the London Games but I will not be surprised if Becks is able to realize his Olympic dreams.

Here are a few photos of the British Ambassadors as they posed backstage in Beijing after the Closing Ceremonies were completed:

I imagine London and all of Great Britain is looking forward to the 2012 Summer Games … here’s hoping they’ll be able to pull off a stunning Olympic Games … they’ve got a hard act to follow in the Beijing Games.

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The amazing 2008 Summer Olympic Games have already come to a close in Beijing, China today where it is well past the finish of the Closing Ceremonies. All of the medals have been handed out, a few World and Olympic Records have been broken and reset and Beijing bid farewell to the World … our thanks for their amazing job hosting these Olympic Games. Here are a few pics from a portion of today’s Closing Ceremonies (which will be broadcast tonight here in the US on NBC):

BEIJING handed the Olympic flag to London today in a spectacular closing ceremony. Rock legend Jimmy Page and singer Leona Lewis starred in the eight-minute slot for London, while footballer David Beckham was also involved. London mayor Boris Johnson received the Olympic flag in the handover ceremony, which featured a red London double decker bus driving around the Bird’s Nest stadium being pursued by Team GB cyclists Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade. Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, told the 91,000 people inside the Bird’s Nest stadium: “Tonight, we come to the end of 16 glorious days which we will cherish forever. Thank you to the people of China.” PM Gordon Brown, who spoke yesterday of his hope that a UK football team could compete in the next Olympics, also attended the closing event. Beckham, who kicked a football into the crowd during the ceremony said he believed the London Olympics in 2012 would be even better than the spectacular events this year. The England footballer said Team GB’s astonishing medal haul will spark a wave of interest in taking part in sport. Beckham said: “I’m an East End boy and I’m proud that it’s happening in London. I was very proud to be involved in the first place bringing it back to England and to London. It’s going to generate so much interest in sport and kids are already getting excited about it. We have seen what the Chinese have done here and I’m sure we will better that, without a doubt.” Team GB won three more medals yesterday with boxer James DeGale leading the way by winning the men’s middleweight title. The 22-year-old Londoner came out on top in a hard-fought contest with Cuban Emilio Correa at the Workers’ Stadium. The boxer’s gold medal followed other success for British athletes on the penultimate day … Team GB has had its most successful Olympics for a century. Britain currently lies in fourth place in the medal table behind China, USA and Russia, after notching up 19 gold medals, 13 silver and 15 bronze to make a total of 47 medals. The Queen today congratulated British and Commonwealth athletes for their success at the Beijing Olympics and said she was looking forward to the London Games in 2012.

After the jump, check out more photos from the Closing Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games including pics of David Beckham and his contribution to the spectacle and the extinguishing of the Olympic Flame … (more…)

It’s official. Michael Phelps is now the Greatest Olympic Athlete in the history of the Modern Olympic Games. There is no question, no argument to the contrary. He stands alone as the sole Olympic athlete to win 14 Gold Medals overall and has won more Gold Medals in a single Olympic Games than any other athlete of the Modern Olympic Games — it simply cannot be denied that he is the greatest. With a little help from his teammates Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Jason Lezak, Phelpsie swam his way into the history books by winning the Gold Medal in the Men’s 400-meter Medley Relay in, yet again, World Record time:

Michael Phelps locked arms with his three teammates, as though they were in a football huddle calling a play, then hugged each one of them. It took a team to make him the grandest of Olympic champions. And one last big push from Phelps himself. Going hard right to the end of a mesmerizing nine days in Beijing, Phelps helped the Americans come from behind Sunday in a race they’ve never lost at the Olympics, cheering from the deck as Jason Lezak brought it home for a world record in the 400-meter medley relay. It was Phelps’ history-making eighth gold medal of these games. “Everything was accomplished,” he said. “I will have the medals forever.” Phelps sure did his part to win No. 8, eclipsing Mark Spitz’s seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games. Aaron Peirsol got the Americans off to the lead in the backstroke, but Brendan Hansen — a major disappointment in this Olympic year — slowed them down with only the third-fastest breaststroke leg. By the time Phelps dived in for the butterfly, the U.S. was trailing Australia and Japan. That’s when he really went to work. With his long arms whirling across the water like propellers, Phelps caught the two guys ahead of him on the return lap and passed off to Lezak a lead of less than a second for the freestyle. The Australians countered with former world record-holder Eamon Sullivan as their anchor. “I was thinking not to blow the lead,” Lezak said. “I was really nervous.” Sullivan tried to chase down Lezak and appeared to be gaining as they came to the wall, but Lezak finished in 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds — Phelps’ seventh world record in his personal Great Haul of China. The Aussies took silver in 3:30.04, also under the old world record of 3:30.68 set by the U.S. in Athens four years ago, while Japan held on for the bronze … Spitz’s iconic performance was surpassed by a swimmer fitting of this generation: a 23-year-old from Baltimore who loves hip-hop music, texting with his buddies and wearing his cap backward. “I don’t even know what to feel right now,” Phelps said. “There’s so much emotion going through my head and so much excitement. I kind of just want to see my mom.” Debbie Phelps was sitting in the stands at the Water Cube, tears streaming down her cheeks, her two daughters by her side. After getting his gold, Phelps quickly found his family, climbing through a horde of photographers to give all three a kiss. Mom put her arm around his neck and gave him a little extra hug. Her son sure earned it. “The Beijing Olympics has witnessed the greatest Olympian of all time — Michael Phelps of the USA,” the announcer said as Phelps posed with his teammates. The Americans still had to wait a couple of tantalizing minutes for the official results to be posted. Finally, it flashed on the board. World record. Gold medal No. 8. “Nothing is impossible,” Phelps said. “With so many people saying it couldn’t be done, all it takes is an imagination, and that’s something I learned and something that helped me” … “Without the help of my teammates this isn’t possible,” he said. “I was able to be a part of three relays and we were able to put up a solid team effort and we came together as one unit. For the three Olympics I’ve been a part of, this is by far the closest men’s team that we’ve ever had. I didn’t know everybody coming into this Olympics, but I feel going out I know every single person very well. The team that we had is the difference.” Phelps set seven world records and one Olympic record, doing a personal best time in every event … Phelps won some races by ridiculously large margins, others with the closest of finishes — most memorably, his seventh gold by one-hundredth of a second over Serbia’s Milorad Cavic in the 100 fly. Along the way, he became the winningest Olympian ever and left China with 14 career golds — five more than anyone else with at least one more Olympics to go. “It’s been nothing but an upwards roller-coaster and it’s been nothing but fun,” Phelps said.

“Nothing but fun” — that is exactly the kind of attitude that can take a person far in life. You know, even tho I said that I could “feel” that Phelpsie was going to win his 8 Gold Medals at these Summer Olympic Games, a little bit of me mebbe kinda doubted it a little … I actually did a little jump when I got word that he won his Gold last night. Much congrats and lurve goes out to Michael Phelps for giving us a thrilling Olympic Games thus far … he was deffo the story for the first half of the Games and we still have the second half to look forward to. Amazing, he is just amazing … and very deserving of every accolade he receives for his incredible efforts and accomplishments. Michael Phelps is the Gold Standard … future Olympic athletes will be looking to him as the new benchmark of Olympic Glory. He is deffo the man.

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It was close … verrrrrry close … but Michael Phelps managed to eke out a win in the Men’s 100-meter Butterfly event at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing last night (today in China). Phelps did not set a World Record with this win, his 7th Gold Medal of these Summer Games, but he did manage to set an Olympic Record … and managed to foil his closest competitor Milorad Cavic of Serbia by one-hundredth of a second:

His Olympics looking lost, Michael Phelps decided to flap those gangly arms one more time. Milorad Cavic, inches from spoiling it all, glided along just under the surface, convinced he had won gold. But it didn’t matter who was fastest. Just first. Phelps swam into history with a magnificent finish Saturday, tying Mark Spitz with his seventh gold medal by the narrowest of margins in the 100-meter butterfly. One-hundredth of a second, the time it takes lightning to strike the ground. Whew! “Dream as big as you can dream and anything is possible,” Phelps said. “I am sort of in a dream world. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it is real.” Call it the Great Haul of China — and it’s not done yet. Phelps has one more race on Sunday, which will likely complete his coronation as the greatest Olympian ever. Spitz already ceded the title. “It goes to show you that not only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he’s maybe the greatest athlete of all time,” said the icon of the 1972 Munich Games. “He’s the greatest racer who ever walked the planet.” The finish was so close the Serbian delegation filed a protest and swimming’s governing body had to review the tape down to the 10-thousandth of a second. Phelps thought he lost — until he saw the “1″ beside his name on the scoreboard. “When I did chop the last stroke, I thought that had cost me the race,” he said. “But it was actually the opposite. If I had glided, I would have been way too long. I took short, faster strokes to try to get my hand on the wall. I ended up making the right decision.” Phelps’ time was 50.58 seconds, the only time in these Olympics that he won an event without breaking the world record. Not to worry. The 23-year-old from Baltimore has now pulled even with the greatest of Olympic records. “One word: epic,” Spitz told The Associated Press from Detroit. “I’m so proud of what he’s been able to do. I did what I did and it was in my day in those set of circumstances. For 36 years it stood as a benchmark. I’m just pleased that somebody was inspired by what I had done. He’s entitled to every second of what’s occurring to him now. “I feel a tremendous load off my back.” Phelps will return on Sunday to swim in his final event of these games, taking the butterfly leg of the 400 medley relay. The Americans will be heavily favored to give him his eighth gold, leaving Spitz behind. Phelps slapped his hands on the water and let out a scream after the astonishing finish. The crowd at the Water Cube gasped — it looked as though Cavic had won — then roared when the “1″ popped up beside the American’s name. Cavic’s time was 50.59. The Serbian delegation filed a protest, but conceded that Phelps won after reviewing the tape provided by FINA, swimming’s governing body. USA Swimming spokeswoman Jamie Olsen said the tape was slowed to one frame every 10-thousandth of a second to make sure Phelps actually touched first. It was impossible to tell on regular-speed replays. “We filed the protest but it is already over,” said Branislav Jevtic, Serbia’s chief of mission for all sports. “They examined the video and I think the case is closed. The video says (Phelps) finished first. “In my opinion, it’s not right, but we must follow the rules. Everybody saw what happened.” FINA referee Ben Ekumbo of Kenya said there was no doubt who won after a review of the super-slow replay. “It was very clear that the Serbian swimmer touched second after Michael Phelps,” he said. “One was stroking and one was gliding.” Cavic still wasn’t sure he actually lost, but said he would accept FINA’s ruling.

To be totally honest, my ass would’ve lodged a complaint if I were Cavic, too. That was a close finish and if it weren’t for the digital photo finish technology, I don’t know that I’d have been satisfied losing to Phelps this time. But, the proof is, as they say, in the pudding and Phelps won his 7th Gold Medal of these Olympic Games and his 13th (!!!!!) overall. Click HERE to see Sports Illustrated’s frame-by-frame photos that show Phelps the winner. It was just too damn close this time. Again, much congrats goes out to our dear Phelpsie. He’s got one more event tonight (tomorrow in China) that may bring him one more Gold Medal. At this point, I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win. This is his time, I can feel it. Go, Phelpsie, Go!

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Not to be outdone by those guys in the pool at the Water Cube at this year’s Olympic Summer Games, the US ladies aren’t doing too shabby themselves. Last night (today in China), US gymnasts/teammates/friends Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson took home the Gold and Silver Medals respectively in the Women’s All-Around Gymnastics Final. Nastia becomes on the third US Olympic Gymnast to win the Gold Medal in this event … the very same event that America’s Sweetheart Mary Lou Retton won at the 1984 Olympic Summer Games which were held here in Los Angeles, CA:

No runner-up finish to her friend and rival this time. Nastia Liukin won the biggest prize of all. Liukin edged teammate Shawn Johnson for the all-around gold in women’s gymnastics Friday in an intense matchup that lived up to its billing at the Beijing Games. Liukin finished with 63.325 points, a mere six-tenths ahead of Johnson, the reigning world champion who beat Liukin at the U.S. championships and Olympic trials only a few weeks ago. Yang Yilin of China won the bronze. “I don’t think it’s really set in, but I feel like this journey has been so long,” Liukin said. Made even longer by having to wait for Johnson to follow her on the floor exercise. Liukin paced back and forth while Johnson, the final competitor, completed her performance, clapping as her teammate floated high in the air. In the end, it was Liukin who soared. When Johnson’s score was posted and Liukin realized she won, tears filled her eyes. Her father and coach Valeri grabbed her in a bearhug, squeezing her tight for several minutes. Valeri Liukin was a double gold medalist for the Soviet Union 20 years ago, but came up achingly short in a rivalry with his own teammate in the all-around. There would be no such disappointment for his only child. “It’s not possible to describe how proud I am,” he said afterward. Liukin wore a smile that lit up her face as she climbed atop the medals podium and waved to the crowd. She blinked back tears as the gold medal was placed around her neck, but let them flow when the U.S. anthem began to play. “Standing on the podium and hearing `Olympic champion’ next to my name was a dream come true,” Liukin said. “Everything pays off at this very moment” … But this was no surprise. Johnson and Liukin have been the world’s two best gymnasts for two years now, and most expected the teammates would be each other’s biggest competition. Johnson came in with all the momentum, winning every matchup with Liukin but one in the last few years. It was Liukin’s grace under pressure, though, that made the difference. It had to, with everything coming down to the very last event, and the last two performers. “I gave my heart and soul out there today,” Johnson said. “Nastia deserved the gold.”

These ladies are class acts, much congrats to them both for their stellar performances. I’m sure the ladies were disappointed when they had to content themselves with the Silver Medal in the Women’s Gymnastics Team event earlier this week but they’re prolly feeling much better about themselves today. It’s amazing how much the Olympic Games can lift one’s spirits as spectators … despite having nothing whatsoever to do with the athleticism that goes on in the Olympic Games, I can’t help but feel a bit of pride at the achievements by the US Olympic athletes. It’s great that the World can, generally, come together for 2 weeks every 2 years to share this great experience. Go Team USA … we’re all rootin’ for y’all :)

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