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August 19, 2008

Our view: Olympic glory for Phelps, Flanagan

No question Michael Phelps is the story of these Olympics.

And well he should be. His eight gold medals in individual and team swimming events bested the mark set by Mark Spitz in the Munich games in 1972, and as of Monday morning were more than had been accumulated by any country in these games save the United States and China.

His dominance of the sport certainly equals that of Tiger Woods in golf and Michael Jordan in basketball.

Americans have a new hero in Phelps, but those of us here are at the same time cheering a hometown hero, Marblehead native Shalane Flanagan, who took the bronze medal in the women's 10,000 meter final last Friday morning.

It was a dream come true for Flanagan, 27, who ran her first meet while a student at Marblehead's middle school. Her finish just ahead of Kenya's Linet Chepkwemoi Masai in 30 minutes, 22.22 seconds, beat her own American record and came after suffering a serious stomach ailment earlier in the week.

Phelps' run is over at the Water Cube as the aquatic competition winds down with the men's and women's marathon events this week.

But there's still plenty of track and field action left, with Flanagan was due to compete in the 5,000-meter qualifying event this morning.

For the former Marblehead and University of North Carolina standout, it's a chance for more Olympic glory; and for the U.S. it's an opportunity to add to the medal count in which, also as of Monday morning, it still had a slight edge over host China.

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