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- The Americans expect a tough competition from France.
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
The French, meanwhile,
made it clear they expected to win.
Relays always exciting
at the Olympics and this should be a good one.
The finals of the men's
4 by 100 freestyle relay. The United States set
the world record--- - A few days before the race,
Alain Bernard said, quote,
The Americans, we're going to smash them.
That's what we came here for. Fighting words indeed.
[Announcer] There's the start!
[Narrator] The most truly unforgettable
moments in Olympic sports
follow a pretty simple formula.
[Announcer] Jessie Diggins to the line!
[Narrator] The absolute highest stakes.
The very best performers.
Turning in just about unfathomable performances.
When they all come together, you get a rare vision
of greatness you don't soon forget about.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the world saw perhaps the most
incredible performance of them all.
Michael Phelps record eight gold medals
in eight races in the swimming pool.
But it never would have happened without this race.
[Announcer] France has taken the lead up there--
[Narrator] A race where the stakes were high.
And the atmosphere was hostile.
- The Americans. We're going to smash them.
- A race with a history
of American dominance that had faded into frustration.
[Announcer] This could be the first time!
And the streak is over!
- A race they simply had to win.
- The Americans have to win gold
in here if Phelps is to keep
his hopes alive of surpassing Mark Spitz.
- I just don't think they can do it, Dan.
- You had Rowdy Gaines yelling,
Oh, there's no way the US team could ever make it.
- Jason Lezak has been there how many times in his career?
- The United States try to hang on a second.
They should get the silver medal.
- It was almost like, well, we tried, right?
I guess it's over.
- Lezak is closing a little bit on Bernard.
Can the veteran chase
him down and pull off a shocker here?
- I probably should have never
even been at that point at 32 years old. Could have given up
so many times in my career, but I kept going.
[Announcer] Bernard is losing some ground!
Here comes Lezak!
Unbelievable at the end!
That might be the most incredible
relay split I've ever seen in my entire life.
Stunned!
- 46.0? Are you kidding me?
No one has gone that fast. Ever.
- I think they need to use another word other than smash.
Huh...
Yeah.
(dramatic music)
- Everything was meant to be
for that week, whatever it was.
It was a magical week.
- They began with the most astonishing show of its kind.
The world had ever seen.
(fireworks explode)
(foreign language)
[Announcer] The United States of America.
(crowd cheers)
- It was a fitting preamble
for the pursuit of a 23 year old from Baltimore, Maryland.
Would come to China chasing arguably the most ambitious
achievement in the entire history of the Olympic Games.
- 2008 was such a miracle, just--
Olympics for swimming. There were so many big
stories, you know, Michael, going for a eight.
Dara Torres, 41, swimming.
African-American swimmer. There were just so
many big stories and we were all just getting so much buzz.
I just feel like people
started paying more attention to swim.
We were kind of a dream team
and people were paying attention.
- I think the Beijing Olympics
will be completely different than any other Olympics.
I think, you know,
all the venues are going to be more state
of the art, more technology put into it.
And then, you know,
they're going to be the best facilities in the world.
- Michael Phelps had first come on the Olympic scene
eight years earlier
when he'd shown up at the 2000 Olympic trials.
[Announcer] Michael Phelps, there he is
just turned 15 years old,
but he's come out of nowhere in the last six
months and if he makes the team,
he will be the youngest male swimmer to qualify
for a U.S. Olympic team in 68 years.
- Take your mark
- The first time he popped up was in 2000 at the Olympic
trials, you know, as a 15 year old.
He made the Olympic team at that point.
And it wasn't like I
felt like, oh, this guy is going to be
the greatest swimmer in history, certainly.
And then after Sydney,
you got a feeling like, boy, he gets fifth.
And I mean,
he's only like three tenths of a second out of a medal.
I mean, he's. Wow!
[Announcer] The winner of the gold medal--
[Narrator] Four years later in Athens,
Phelps offered more wows over and over again.
[Announcer] Michael Phelps with his second gold medal.
And a new Olympic record!
And he's six for six in these games and medals.
- It looks like you're going to come out of here almost
certainly with eight medals, which would tie the most
in a single Olympics by any athlete in any sport.
It's just shy of Mark Spitz,
but it's a heck of an accomplishment.
How do you assess it?
- Michael, you really had to turn it on down the stretch.
What was going through your mind?
- You think about this stuff when when you're a little kid
going to swim practice and you think maybe one day I can be
an Olympic gold medalist and I'm living a dream here.
[Announcer] Phelps ends these games
with six gold medals and two bronze.
- Please welcome Olympic champion, Michael Phelps!
- Athens in 2004 made Phelps a superstar, but for Beijing,
he was striving to become an immortal.
He'd again swim a remarkable eight races in search,
this time, of nothing less than eight golds.
- I want to be the first Michael Phelps.
I don't want to be the second Mark Spitz.
- The simple idea of the pursuit was captivating,
even if the experts doubted he had a shot.
Well, I mean, you guys are the ones who are
talking all about it. I'm not saying anything.
- Not a chance in hell.
I'm sorry, because everything has to be perfect.
You know, the relays have to be perfect.
That's the hardest part.
I thought winning the individual gold medals,
would not be a slam dunk.
But I thought he certainly could win the all five
of those. But it's the relays that are the key.
[Announcer] Eight meters left.
It looks like he's going to hold on to the gold!
- Everybody knew that if he
was going to win eight gold medals, it was going to be
a feat that maybe not ever would be accomplished again.
So everybody knew he had a chance at it.
So for us, being a part of relays with him, you know,
he needed three relays to win those eight gold medals.
[Announcer] Michael Phelps of the United States,
he needs and wins it by half a body length.
[Michael] You know, 2007, 2008 those two years.
Probably the greatest racing in years of my career.
Probably the best shape I've ever been in my career.
So I--
I almost felt unbeatable during those years.
I knew the work that I was
doing was better than what anybody else was doing.
- Michael has a lot of things that motivate him,
and that's one of the reasons he's so successful.
The primary thing that motivates Michael are his
personal goals. And these are performance
goals in swimming that he and I work out and know.
And he keeps them very private.
- No.
- Way back over your shoulder.
Keep your eyeline nice and tall.
There you go. Good, Michael
- Of course,
you know, relay's four guys. It's not just me out there.
So we have to, you know, we have to do it together.
I think that's the greatest part about doing relays.
(Crowd chanting) Let's go USA!
- Phelps chase for eight golds would start with an individual
event, the 400 meter individual medley.
- Take your marks.
[Announcer] So here we go,
two lengths of the pool and each of the four stroke
disciplines, first of five individual
events for Phelps, but he calls it his toughest race.
Phelps way ahead of the world record line.
4:05:25,
that was the world record that Phelps set at the trials
in Omaha and he's setting up to obliterate it here.
- You know, the 400 IM,
I was beyond confident about.
I kind of had little
benchmarks that I had to hit each little sections
of that race and then to go 4:03:08
I mean, it was basically
the exact goal time I had written down.
So--
it was a good way to start.
[Announcer] We mentioned that this race
would set the table for Michael Phelps.
He was worried. Everybody was worried.
But no problem for Michael Phelps.
New world record
and gold medal number one of these Beijing games.
- What went through your mind
with gold medal number one here?
- Umm...
Kind of emotional now getting
to do the first one and it's exciting.
I'm really happy.
[Announcer] A big sigh of relief, Rowdy.
To get this one in the books.
- Michael Phelps.
[Narrator] But the very next morning
would come his first team event, the 4 by 100 meter
freestyle relay, where the consensus was his
quest would actually come to an early end.
And not only were the Americans not the clear
favorite for gold in the race, but they were also dealing
with some antagonism from their top rivals.
- We are less than 40 minutes
away from live swimming at the Water Cube.
- The French team, it was said that they
talked some smack about you guys.
- Things are getting a little heated there.
The prelims on Sunday night and the American's swimming
without Phelps in the prelim broke the world record.
Nonetheless, the French who qualified
second and are expected to be the main competition,
said they weren't impressed and they're ready to, quote,
Take all they have.
- They actually said they
wanted to smash us like guitars.
- Smash you like guitars?
- That's what they said.
- And that comes after this comment from hundred meter
world record holder, Alain Bernard.
The Americans, we're going to smash them.
That's what we came for.
Word has it that Bernard's quote has reached Bob Bowman,
coach of Michael Phelps, some bulletin board material
to add extra sizzle to what is already expected to be
a blistering final.
- They're bad at insults.
(audience laughs)
(exaggerated French accent) We will smash you
like zee guitar!
That you smash.
- Make no mistake that we knew
they were talking trash and that fueled the fire.
Just like everyone who said I wasn't going to go
to the Olympics, so I wasn't big enough,
strong enough, talented enough.
That fueled by Inferno in here
and the French team, they fueled our fire 100%.
[Announcer] Relay is always exciting at the Olympics.
And this should be a good one.
The finals of the men's four by--
[Narrator] There would be eight countries
in the final of the relay.
But the spotlight was almost
entirely on the two teams in lanes four and five.
Phelps would be swimming the first leg
for the Americans and then relying on his supporting cast
from there to capture him another gold medal.
Garrett Weber-Gale, a hard working 23 year old
who'd swum at the University of Texas and surprised many
people by even getting to his first Olympics.
Cullen Jones, another first time Olympian,
carrying expectations far beyond just the event.
And then a veteran, Jason Lezak,
a relay specialist in his third Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, one lane over, the French team
was composed of an imposing foursome.
Amaury Leveaux,
a brash competitor with a knack for fast starts.
Fabien Gilot, who'd been part of every French
freestyle relay team since 2003.
Frederick Bousquet, France's anchor in the relay in 2004.
And Alain Bernard,
the world record holder in the individual 100 free.
Who'd already riled up the Americans with his
purported comments to the media.
But the truth was, the problem for Phelps
and the Americans went beyond trash talk.
It was simple math.
As talented as the U.S. team was,
the French were simply faster.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Australia has been tough
through the years, but when you break down
the times, it really comes down to the United States
in lane four and France above them in lane five.
So Phelps just more than
an hour away from swimming the semis of the two hundred
free back in the pool here in the relay.
And when Phelps is in the pool,
everybody's here, including the president.
- The testosterone and the like, energy in there
you could cut with a knife.
It almost felt like a fight
was going to break out at any moment.
(Speaking in French)
[Narrator] Phelps' challenge in the opening leg
would be the fearless Leveaux.
(Speaking in French)
(intense music)
- Take your marks.
[Announcer] Phelps going first.
Amaury Leveaux of France leads it off.
Second fastest ever in the 50 meter free.
The reason the French have come onto the scene here is
that they've got three sprinters who have come
on in the last year or so, a little bit out of nowhere.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Look at Eamon Sullivan from Australia.
Wow, he's out.
Oh, my goodness, 22.48.
[Narrator] The early pace
by Australia's Eamon Sullivan was blistering.
But at the very peak of his powers, Phelps was undeterred.
- I'll never forget Bob was
like, what the hell is going on?
Why is he so far behind the first 50?
It's like, well, I'm not a sprinter, number one.
So relax. I close. I don't start fast.
So coming off the 50 wall,
I basically slingshot out of that wall and
got right there back into the mix.
(exciting music)
[Announcer] He's the world record holder
in the 50 free, we expected Sullivan
from Australia to lead it out, but don't expect him to have
the fire power to stay up.
- No, Phelps will close on him he just got to hope to stay
out of that wash.
- Michael knows he's going
to win before he even gets there and he has an ability
to will a win more than anyone I've ever been around.
And the funny thing is,
is that everyone who competes against him,
they have in the back of their head, even if they're ahead
of him, they know Michael's coming for him.
[Announcer] Look at the world record line.
Way ahead of it is a--
- The United States to win this relay, keep it close
to Leveaux, and that's what he did.
He beat him.
Broke the American record on the way.
Almost broke the world record.
[Narrator] After one leg,
Eamon Sullivan's world record had the Australians in first
place, but Phelps American record had Team USA in second.
With the French closely behind and 300 more meters to go
before the race's story was fully written.
- It's funny, people after the fact asked
me, like, hey, did you guys think about
this relay being part of Michael's aid?
And like, did you guys have pressure?
And I mean, we never did.
At least I never did.
And I never heard that from anyone else.
Like,
I want to win a gold medal.
(slow twangy music)
I had missed the 2004 Olympic
team by one place. Going into that Olympics,
I think only my coaches in a couple of guys I swam
with thought that I could maybe make that team.
I ended up getting seventh,
one place out of making the the team for the relay.
And I was crying my eyes out on the deck.
My assistant coach said,
all right, look at the scoreboard.
Your name in the place up there.
Promise yourself you will never allow yourself to feel
this type of pain and disappointment again.
So I looked up there and
thought about how bad I felt and I made a promise.
And then I worked for four
years consistently and just got after it.
And that led me to the trials
in 2008 where basically I showed up and it was already
in my my brain like a done deal.
Like I'm making this team.
- My name is Garrett Weber-Gale.
People call me G, G-Dub, G-Grill, and--
No, they don't call me G-Grill I couldn't think of that one!
- So at the time, Garrett was a
younger swimmer on the team.
We would talk trash to each other for fun.
It wasn't a serious trash talk.
We had a good relationship
together and we wanted to see each other do well.
[Announcer] Lezak is trying to make his
third Olympic team and Garrett Webber-Gale is
looking for his first Olympic team birth.
- I've never actually told this story on a film.
But the year before I was
in 2007 world championships.
I remember sitting in Jason Lezak's hotel room
at our training camp and he says to me,
As long as I'm swimming, you'll never beat be.
[Announcer] Just over American record place.
Second from the bottom in lane seven is Lezak.
Up in lane three, Weber-Gale beginning to turn it on.
- I'm not sure I like the way Lezak is looking right now.
[Garrett] Every night when I went to sleep,
I would think about Lezak telling me,
you will never beat me as long as I'm swimming.
And I would literally imagine the race and imagine how
incredible it was going to feel.
[Announcer] Weber-Gale just above him.
Just out touches him,
but Lezak makes it in the second spot.
- I ended up beating him
in the final of that race, and I can't tell if I was
actually more excited about beating Lezak for the first
time, or actually making the Olympic team.
- So I'm glad I could motivate Garrett to swim fast.
- There will be 5 or 6, maybe 10 or 12 people on every
team across the world that you say,
Where'd they come from? How'd they do it?
They made the great outside
the pool sacrifices, and they worked themselves
harder than anybody else in the pool.
That's why I love the sport.
Pretty much you get what you deserve.
[Announcer] A new American record and lifetime best for-
[Narrator] Garrett Weber-Gale's fantastic performance
in the 100 meter freestyle
at the 2008 Olympic trials not only meant he'd be swimming
for gold in that event in Beijing, it also set him up
alongside his friend Jason Lezak to team
with Michael Phelps and the 4 by 100 meter free relay.
And as Weber-Gale got ready
to dive in the pool behind Phelps as the
American's second leg,
he'd be matching up with France's Fabien Gilot.
(Speaking in French)
[Narrator] But in Beijing, Gilot would be diving into
the pool an unsettled swimmer.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Alain Bernard, who is the world record holder
in the 100 free, sitting out this race.
He's another one of those guys that has made France
a favorite and Leveaux has given--
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Here's the finish by Bousquet.
Anybody that can go 18 seconds in the 50,
has got some speed. If he anchors that relay,
he's going to have to do that later on in primetime.
[Narrator] But while France's swimmers
had figured on the best order for the final,
their coaches had other plans.
(Speaking in French)
- Yeah, I know there was some
controversy with France and with Freddie Bousquet
saying that he should have anchored.
And the reason was, is because he knew the Americans.
He knew that he had
the experience of racing in the United States
at the NCAA level, which is just huge
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] In this session of the 4 by 100
freestyle relay where Michael Phelps tries to keep
his hopes alive of passing Mark Spitz. If the Americans
don't get gold, then he's going to turn his
attention toward matching Spitz.
But that is really not on Phelps's radar right now.
We just want to set the table for you as far as--
- Garrett in the ready room was pacing.
His leg was bouncing, and I remember leaning over
and was like, Garrett stop!
Leave it for the pool.
I got plenty.
[Announcer] Look at the world record line!
Way ahead of it--
[Narrator] After the lightning fast first
leg had put Australia in the lead ahead of the U.S.
and then France, now Weber-Gale
looked to pull in front and give
the Americans as much of an edge as possible.
With France's fastest swimmers still to come.
(upbeat music)
- Here I am at the Olympics, Lezak is there.
Phelps is there, Cullen is there.
Michael goes off the block and he's swimming.
He comes back.
I realize the Australian guys were in front.
I got off the block.
And the first thing I remember thinking is--
[Announcer] Garrett Weber-Gale
and his first Olympic swim.
[Garrett] Oh, my God,
I think I might have just false started.
[Announcer] World record there
for Australia's Eamon Sullivan to lead things off--
- The reaction time,
from the time Michael's hand hit the touchpad to the time
my toe left the block was six one hundredths of a second.
Luckily, I had raced enough.
I let that go to the back of my mind.
I think I see the Australian guy.
I'm not thinking about it. I'm just going.
[Announcer] World record there for Australia's Eamon Sullivan
to lead things off, but look at this world record line.
You know, I think the winning relay, first of all,
it's going to take a world record to win.
They can break the world record
by three or four seconds. That's how good
all these teams are.
- Garrett's somebody who is
putting up enough hundred times throughout the years
and some pretty big moments that, yeah, he deserved every
right to be there and he showed it.
[Announcer] Garrett Weber-Gale has the
lead for the United States.
What is it going to take down
a stretch of this race for the Americans to have
a chance in the end with France?
- That was my one Olympic final
that I was a part of in my swimming career.
When I finished the race, I got the absolute best I
could of out of my mind and my body at that moment.
Definitely a dream come true.
- It was a great swim,
he put us in a good position, he put us in the lead.
[Announcer] US has the slight lead
in the third leg of this four man event.
[Narrator] Weber-Gale edged Gilot by three
one hundredths of a second building the American's lead
over France to nearly half a second.
With Australia already fading into third,
it looked like a two team race with two legs to go.
- I always thought the 400 free relay for me historically
was a sense of pride because we had never lost.
If you look at the great hundred freestylers
that U.S. has had. You know, the Johnny Weissmuller's
and the Don Showlander's and the Duke Kahanamoku's
and the Jim Montgomery's then Mark Spitz, I mean,
those are the greatest names in the history sport.
And it's almost like
you don't want to let the guys down on the relay with you,
obviously, you're brothers, but you also don't want to let
down your older brothers, you know, that came before you.
So there certainly is a lot of pressure on that relay.
[Announcer] Rowdy Gaines of the United States of America.
- So I know back when I swam
in '84, a lot of smack talking for sure. In fact
the Aussies were yelling at me before I took off
the anchor leg because it was very close on that relay.
And I'll never forget hearing those guys calling me some
names I can't say on television.
[Announcer] Rowdy Gaines will touch the wall
a brand new world record!
[Narrator] Sixteen years after Rowdy Gaines led the U.S.
to a gold medal in the 4 by 100 meter relay,
the Olympic Games came to Sydney.
Where the Americans would once
again be the favorites in the event.
With a brash approach to their
rivalry with the hometown team.
- Hello again.
American dual Olympic gold medalist Gary Hall Jr.
has angered the Australian
swim team by claiming the US will smash them like guitars.
- Comments on the eve of their arrival in Sydney
spread like wildfire.
[Announcer] The Aussie crowd on its feet
trying to encourage the Thorpedo
to upset the Americans. They've never lost this race.
An Olympic competition. Hall and Thorpedo to the wall.
This could be the first time!
And that streak is over!
Australia wins gold.
- Look who did this smashing tonight.
- French swimmer Alain Bernard
had this to say about the US team.
We are going to smash them.
That's what we came for.
[Narrator] So eight years later in Beijing,
the French team's words echoed the American's from Sydney.
And for 24 year old Cullen Jones,
the experience was altogether overwhelming.
- I watched parts of the race.
Oh, God.
Hello, young Cullen. How are you?
[Announcer] Relay is always exciting
in the Olympics, and it should be a good one.
- I think the crazy thing is like three out
of the four guys, I already knew them beforehand.
You know, Fred swam at Auburn under my coach and so
Yeah, this is a rivalry though.
I have not watched this straight through ever.
[Announcer] Now they've got the A team out
there led by Michael Phelps
who's going for gold medal number two at these games.
[Narrator] For Jones, the four by one relay
had actually begun the previous
night in the preliminary heats of the race.
[Announcer] All right, two heats here,
the men's 400 meter freestyle
relay and the great tradition of the United States is
on the line, although they have not won
at the last two Olympic Games.
And this marks the first Olympic swim for Cullen Jones
in this prelims, just the second
African-American to make the men's U.S. Olympic swim team.
- Here I am 24 years old, deer in headlights first Olympics.
And I had to swim the fastest leg in the prelim heat
to actually make it to that relay.
So it was a pretty tense environment.
[Announcer] And fortunately for all four
of these Americans, only one
will come out and make it to the finals
because Garrett Weber-Gale, Jason Lezak and Michael Phelps
will definitely be on that relay later on.
[Cullen] Team USA, we try to rest our A-listers so Garrett,
who won the 100 freestyle, was already resting.
Jason was resting. And then Michael, of course,
was already on the relay. Lucky duck.
So there's only one spot left, so I had to try to beat all
these, you know, A-list sprinters.
[Narrator] And the hunger of those
sprinters would produce
a tremendous performance from the US's so called, B-listers.
[Announcer] Cullen Jones was third in this event, Dan,
at the Olympic trials. He was also third in the 50
freestyle. He's sneaking up on the field now.
All of a sudden, they're kind of bunched up together.
What a great finish by Cullen Jones.
There's no question in my mind
it's going to take a world record to win the gold medal.
47.6 on Cullen Jones.
To the wall. He comes and that's a new world record.
Matt Grevers.
Cullen Jones.
Nathan Adrian
And Ben Wildman-Tobriner with a world record
to take it into the finals. You know
only one guy can join the rest though.
Who's it going to be?
- How'd you like to be Eddie Reese and Mark Schubert
and have to decide which of
this quartet goes to the final?
- I think what Eddie Reese said
to me was that if we all split something ridiculous and get
the world record, that he might retire shortly
just so they make the decision and then come back as a coach.
So they've got some serious deciding to do.
- So Cullen literally
made the relay by the slimmest of margins.
He's told me in the past that
the head coach at the time, Eddie Reese,
came up to him and said, you're on the relay.
And it's by hundredths of a second.
- Blazing fast times in the heats, setting up what
should be a dramatic sprint relay conclusion when Michael-
[Narrator] And later that night
came a sense of just how much
attention would be on Jones in the morning.
- I want to say, like 11 o'clock,
12 o'clock at night, Michael's banging on the door.
I open the door and he's like, the NBA guys are downstairs.
They want to wish just good luck.
And they're all downstairs. And I'm like, wait, what?
I kick Ryan and I'm like NBA guys downstairs!
And we start running down the stairs
and like Kobe, LeBron, D Wade, all those guys are sitting
outside and Michael had know LeBron
from I think the ESPY's.
I remember shaking his hand.
He goes, Oh, snap.
There's a black dude on the swim team.
- First Nike had Michael Jordan,
then the torch was passed to Tiger Woods.
Now they have Cullen Jones.
- That's the word there. Irvington, New Jersey.
Look, do a search online and you see that almost all
stories about that city involve crime.
This story and the young man it's about
are glowing exceptions.
- Should I be looking at you?
- You're gonna be looking at me.
I'm going to move in. - Ok.
- Kept getting it from people walking down the street.
Oh, my God,
you're that swimmer, you're the black swimmer.
So my name was just everywhere.
Media really portrayed me
after that as this African-American hope.
I mean, my name was being
thrown in with your Tiger Woods,
your Serena and Venus Williams and Arthur Ashe.
And I'm just like wh-wh-wha?
I just like swimming fast.
(soft music)
(Speaking in French)
[Narrator] As the halfway point
of the Beijing relay approached the U.S. and France
for one and two in the race. With Fred Bousquet set to swim
head to head against Cullen Jones.
[Announcer] How many times have I broken
this down, Dan, over the last two weeks?
You know, the Americans are
certainly capable of doing, but each one of them have
to have the perfect race to be able to beat the French.
- On the right side,
all the NBA guys are there on the left side, George Bush,
the current president at the time, is there.
And it's just like, this is huge.
You feel like a gladiator.
It's just noise because there's so
many different languages being screamed.
And I'm a part of it.
And I'm looking at all this and I'm just like,
Go. The only thing in my head is go.
I wasn't thinking about mechanics, I wasn't thinking
about my turn, my start. Jump, go.
That's it.
[Announcer] Freddie Bousquet,
has taken over the lead though for France.
Fastest relay split in history in the prelims.
And then you've got Cullen Jones.
(Speaking in French)
[Cullen] I blacked out, I honestly don't remember
a lot of it. I just remember pushing
and just faster, faster, faster, faster.
No, no, no, no, faster, faster.
And I remember hitting the wall,
and my first thought was...
I just runined this.
[Announcer] Freddie Bousquet
has taken over the lead though for France.
Fastest relay split in history and the prelims
for Bousquet.
- In the video, it looks like Cullen's not
swimming well, but you just have to do some
comparison of, like Fred Bousquet,
he had had the fastest relay
split in history in the prelims.
[Announcer] France has taken the lead up
there in lane five over the United States.
- I've been there, I've been on both ends, man,
I've been on the end of trying to chase somebody down,
which is a really good feeling when you do chase them down.
And then I've been on the feeling of being chased down.
It literally is like swimming
with a big lead weight on your back
when that happens.
When somebody starts to go by you, it's so difficult.
So for Cullen Jones to remain poised in that situation,
to remain focused on what he had to do was pretty amazing.
And he did it.
[Announcer] Freddie Bousquet,
has taking over the lead, though, for France.
- I was a half of a stroke ahead of him.
- It hurts.
Yeah.
[Michael] If you look at it, Freddie made
up so much ground that first 50.
Cullen hung on as much as he could.
That's a tough man to swim with.
[Announcer] Fastest relay split in history
in the prelims for Bousquet.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] France has taken the lead
up there in lane five over the United States.
[Narrator] Bousquet had given France a lead
of more than half a second over the U.S.
A virtual eternity in a race
that had just 100 meters to go.
[Announcer] I just don't think they can do it, Dan.
(Speaking in French)
[Narrator] In 2008, Alain Bernard
arrived in Beijing as the fastest 100
meter freestyler in swimming history.
Capping a rapid two year ascent
to the top of his sport.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Alain Bernard awaits as the anchor guy
and Jason Lezak is going to have to make up
some ground on Alain Bernard who stands 6'5,
he can absolutely fly.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] I just don't think they can do it, Dan,
I mean, Jason Lezak has been
there how many times in his career?
Lane seven, Jason Lezak has won the last couple
of national championships in this event.
[Narrator] Jason Lezak was a late bloomer as a swimmer.
He didn't develop
into an Olympic caliber racer until after he graduated
from the University of California, Santa Barbara,
and he made his first Olympic team at the age of 24 in 2000.
[Announcer] Well, if you want a full dose of
the Australian American rivalry
we've been talking about, this is it.
The finals of the men's 4 by 100--
[Jason] The Americans had seven years, I believe,
at winning this
never losing this race and Olympic history going
into my first Olympic Games in 2000.
So we had all that history
behind us and we thought, hey, this is a gold medal because
this is what we've done and this is how good we are.
And the first experience wasn't quite what we expected.
[Announcer] Twenty five meters to go.
It's Gary Hall, Jr. and Alain Bernard
It's US and Australia. Gold finishing for Australia.
US, Australia! US, Australia!
And Australia have got the gold medal!
Australia beat the US!
And the streak is over!
- It was pretty hard to swallow.
I mean, you can see the reaction from us,
and I've actually someone sent me a picture a few years back.
We had someone leaning over the block.
The other person had their
hand on him, like with their head down.
We did our best.
They were just a little bit better that day.
[Narrator] Four years later in Athens,
Lezak was again on the 4 by 1 free relay team.
This time with a 19 year old, Michael Phelps.
- In 2004, we thought we could win
and South Africans just came out of nowhere and kind
of blasted one and they got out to a quick start early
and we were kind of toasted off the start.
[Announcer] Off they go!
There's no way. There is no way Jason Lezak
is going to catch Neethling.
He's just too battle tested.
He's been there over and over again.
Jason Lezak, one of the best
sprinters in the world. No question about it.
But he's just going to run out room.
Look at that, a body length.
You can't give a body length in a hundred freestyle.
There's just no way.
A new world record for South Africa.
[Announcer] Welcome back to Beijing as we continue
live from these Olympics, a look inside the state--
[Narrator] When Beijing came around and Lezak made
the Olympics again at age 32, he was voted the swim team's
captain and brought to the 4 by 1 relay,
a quiet hunger fueled by the disappointment of the past.
- We all were ready in our suits, we walked into this
hallway and Jason pulled us over to the side, he said,
I've been to this race many times.
And he said, when we go up and try and swim it as
individuals, the result is not a good one.
So we're going to go to this race.
We're gonna swim four hundred, we're going to do it together.
And, I remember Michael and Cullen and I just looked
at each other like this guy is the God.
- He had that switch.
I don't know what it was,
but he got so amped for relays. He was just
a different human for those moments.
And it was cool to be a part of, cool to watch.
[Announcer] Jason Lezak
is going to have to make up some ground
on Alain Bernard who stands 6'5 and can absolutely fly.
(crowd cheering)
[Announcer] I just don't think they can do it, Dan,
I mean, Jason Lezak has been there
how many times in his career?
Has he anchored this free relay and medley relay
but I just don't think he can do it.
He's trying to ride that wave as much as possible.
Bernard is pulling away from him.
- At about twenty five meters, they show this side angle
video shot and Lezak's head is at Bernard's feet.
And I remember looking
at Michael and I looked at each other in the eye
and we thought the exact same thing.
We thought, oh, my God, we're going to win the silver.
[Announcer] Lezak,
a three time Olympian world record is absolutely going
to be shattered here. The United States
try to hang on to second.
They should get the silver medal.
- It was almost like, well, we tried, right?
I guess it's over.
- I was so out of breath and blacking out.
I go under to the side
and I remember turning around and watching Jason.
And I'm like, oh, my God, he's on the lane line.
Oh, my God, he's on the lane line!
Yes, yes, draft him draft him. And he's sitting there
the whole time, I just see him catching him,
catching him, flips, catching him, catching him.
- And with a twenty five to go,
all of a sudden it looked like
we have a shot.
[Announcer] Australia is in bronze territory right now,
but Lezak is closing a little bit on Bernard.
Can the veteran chase him down?
And pull off a shocker here?
- Well there's no doubt that he's tightening up.
- Looked like the piano had fallen on Bernard's back.
And Lezak, he rode that lane line the whole way.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Well there's no doubt
that he's tightening up.
Bernard is losing some ground.
Here comes Lezak! Unbelievable at the end!
He's done it! The US has done it!
(crowd cheering)
46.06 split for Lezak.
What a clutch fast swim when they needed it.
Who's talking now?
- Jason Lezak, 46.0
46.0, are you kidding me?
The fastest time it has been ten years, twelve years now.
No one has gone that fast. Ever.
(Speaking in French)
- The emotions are ridiculous.
That was... I can still hear the roar.
[Announcer] Superman does it again.
Garrett-Weber-Gale a part of it.
Welcome to the Olympics, Garrett, his first Olympics
- It was so close,
I remember looking at the scoreboard on the far end.
I see United States of America with a one next to it.
And I had to look a second
time because I just, like, could barely even believe it.
[Announcer] Stunned.
I think they need to use another
word other than smash.
- Looking at the replay,
it's funny to see it took Cullen so long to swim over
to the side and he was so tired that he wound up staying
on the side of the pool to watch the end of that race.
And then you see him jumping
up for joy as I touch that wall and celebrating.
[Announcer] What a clutch, fast swim when they needed it.
Who's talking now?
- It was so devastating and I know... I'm not laughing.
I promise I'm not laughing, but I'm laughing with Dan
saying, Who's talking now? At the end.
I laugh because I don't want to cry for France.
I really want to cry for them.
But at that moment,
it worked out perfectly for the United States
in the villain in the water for sure.
- I think he was one of the greatest,
if not the greatest relay swimmers we've ever seen.
- If you raced that race any
other time, nine times out of 10, France wins. 100 percent.
- The stars really aligned on that race.
[Rowdy] It really is
so difficult
to explain
how he did what he did.
To this day,
so many years later, I have a hard time putting
in words what happened because I get asked all the time.
Especially when I'm with Jason.
You know, they ask Jason and they ask me.
Well, what do you think, Rowdy? How did he do it?
And
again, I'll say it's the triumph of the human spirit.
I really believe
that it's in all of us, you know,
and I know that it sounds very corny, but I really believe
what Jason had in that moment is in all of us.
We just have a hard time tapping into that.
I think somehow or another, he tapped into the frustration
of the two Olympic Games before.
I think he tapped into the physical part
of riding Bernard's wave as long as he could.
I think he tapped into knowing that maybe in the back of his
mind, Bernard went out too fast at the first 50.
I mean, if he's a professional
relay swimmer, he knows these things.
And...
I think in the end, he was tired of losing.
I think he just finally said, I've had it.
And for 50 meters,
I'm going to show them that I am tired.
I'm going to win.
[Narrator] If the relay was the greatest
moment of Jason Lezak's career,
it was the most disappointing of Alain Bernard's.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Wow!
That might be the most
incredible relay split I've ever seen in my entire life.
46 flat, not only was that the fastest in history,
it blew away the fastest in history.
French are still in shock.
I think they need to use another word other than smash
(Speaking in French)
- Bob said it to me.
I don't know where he heard it,
but Bob said it to me and he knows that I
I enjoy it, but, I mean,
who knows, maybe he could have made it up.
Who knows? But I mean,
I do know that they were talking some smack
leading into that final.
And
(Speaking in French)
- There were media reports
that Alain Bernard said that the French were going
to smash the Americans in the relay.
Is that an accurate quote?
And what do you think of his anger level?
(Speaking in French)
- Well, the French have said
we're going to smash the Americans.
Who's talking now, guys?
- We are. The United States of America.
(Speaking in French)
- Who knows?
Whatever it is,
the outcome was how we wanted it, how I wanted it.
So (laughs)
We brought one home for our country.
So I don't know.
- I could redo it 10 times, but the sport is winning
and losing, but I think at the end
of the day, you have to respect those
who took part in this wonderful final.
It's one of the highlights
of the Olympic Games and beating the world record
by four seconds and still not being an Olympic winner
is something.
[Announcer] Jason Lezak has been there how many times
in his career? - But if you look at it here,
Lezak doesn't look like he's over swimming it.
You can see a lot of people in this spot
will over swim a race like this.
[Announcer] Trying to ride that wave as much as possible.
Bernard is pulling away from him.
[Narrator] For all the drama, all the extraordinary ups
and downs that transpired over those three minutes and eight
point two four seconds,
the 4 by 100 meter free
relay was just the second of Michael Phelps'
eight races in Beijing. - And then 15 meters to go,
I was like, holy, we have a chance.
- But improbably,
the victory meant his quest for eight golds
was still alive.
[Announcer] What a clutch fast swim
when they needed it.
- You know, you can go back and slice it a half dozen ways
and it's it's going to be close no matter what, but,
I mean, I will always say we
had the perfect team to get it done.
[Announcer] So here we go, Rowdy, Michael Phelps looking-
[Narrator] The next six races, would continue one
of the greatest Olympic dramas in history.
[Announcer] Michael Phelps once again
making it look easy.
Another gold medal for America's Michael Phelps
He's going to stand alone
in Olympic history, is it going to be a world record?
Yes!
We've been watching Michael Phelps every night.
I got sucked into all
the drama with him winning eight gold medals.
My husband has to drag me out of bed because I'm exhausted.
- Phelps mania sweeping the globe.
And certainly sweeping the United States.
- We're getting reports that our
broadcast may be causing some
issues with your sleep back in the States.
And we just want you to know we feel your pain.
- Michael Phelps about ready
to add to his incredible Olympic gold total.
Keep it perfect here at these
Beijing Games, all of them world records.
Michael Phelps looking for another world record.
And is he going to make it a perfect six
for six world records? The answer to that is yes!
And the drive for eight Olympic golds continues
for Michael Phelps.
- You know, looking back at it,
not just this race going back to the hundredth of a second
in the hundred fly like everything.
It was the touches.
[Announcer] Phelps needs to get by Cavic.
Does he have enough in the tank to get it done?
Cavic is swimming tough. Phelps above him in lane 5.
I don't know if he's going to catch him.
He gets it done again!
He did it! He did it again! He got it done again!
For the second straight Olympics,
Phelps in the end, gets it done.
One one hundredth of a second!
Lezak is going to try to hold
off Sullivan here to put away the eighth gold for Phelps.
Phelps is going to touch the wall.
And in goes Lezak.
Just about 30 meters left for Lezak to get Phelps
the greatest single performance in Olympic Games
history. Lezak trying to hold off Eamon Sullivan above him.
Lezak going to break the world record.
Trying to stay ahead of Sullivan.
And Lezak, the hero in the 400 free relay
won't let Phelps down at all.
History in Beijing for Michael Phelps
- Everything was meant to be for that week.
It was magical. It really was.
(National Anthem plays)
[Announcer] Move over Mark Spitz.
Eight for eight.
[Announcer] Australia is in bronze territory
right now but Lezak is
closing a little bit on Bernard.
Can the veteran chase him down?
- Alain Bernard was a little bit too nice?
(laughs)
- But, you know, this race
is great, just see Michael Phelps, it's amazing.
- Listen, they
they got even with the United States four years later.
You don't need to cry for them too much.
[Narrator] For Michael Phelps,
history in Beijing was to be savored forever.
But for his French rivals, there would be a chance
for revenge four years later in London.
[Announcer] So the lone two Americans
from that relay four years ago--
[Narrator] The 2012 rematch
would feature two racers for each
team back in the pool. Phelps and Jones for the U.S.
and Leveaux and Gilot for France.
But for the two anchors from Beijing,
Bernard and Lezak, their only appearance
in London would be in the preliminaries.
(Speaking in French)
[Announcer] Agnel looking really good.
I like Agnel, even though he stayed close there.
He's coming up on Lochte. Lochte giving it his go!
It's Agnel of France who's gonna out
touch the Americans and Lochte.
[Jason] Coming back in 2012, 36 years old.
So for me, I was just so happy to be on the Olympic team
and I was happy to be a teammate and team captain.
But really, we still wanted to win the gold medal.
I wanted to be a part of another gold medal.
Having the French team come back,
the way they did there was hard.
For me, I still look at 2008
and don't even think about 2012 because we
did something out of the ordinary,
we did something special, and that's all that matters.
[Cullen] There was a friend of mine that said after 2008,
do you know what you just did for the sport of swimming?
And then the USA Swimming Foundation
put the drowning rates in front of me.
And I was like, wow, ok. I'm a black swimmer.
And if that's going to open
my way to be able to teach other kids to swim,
that's how my platform and my soapbox is developed,
I'm going to take that and run with it.
[Garrett] It's funny looking back,
I remember some guys like Aaron Peirsol,
who's I think the greatest backstroker of all time,
and some of these guys who've won Olympic gold medals.
Like Aaron, in particular, he said,
Winning an Olympic gold medal,
it's not going to do anything for you.
You were part of the greatest swimming race in history.
And he's absolutely right.
I mean, I don't have the perspective of what it's
like winning an individual gold medal, so I can't say.
But I have always felt for my entire life,
it is more fun to be part of relays
because you're up there with your teammates.
And so I was just super
thankful that I could be a part of that race.
That will be history forever.
[Narrator] The real truth is that the sport will always be
a part of all of them and the unforgettable race
they were a part of in Beijing will never leave them.
On both sides of the miracle,
it bonds them to one another and the idea that just about
anything is possible in the water.
(teammates talking)
[Michael] I spent most of my career
swimming the relays with the same dudes every single
summer, so we just built that togetherness and it
was like you're literally swimming with your brothers.
That was the greatest part for me,
because we're swimming as a team.
We're swimming for our country.
And the Olympics is the only place we get that.
- Umm...
- Definitely all time favorite Olympic moment is the 2008
4 by 100 freestyle relay.
If you're a swimmer and you
don't say that, I don't know what you're going to pick.
- I remember exactly where I was
when the 400 free relay in Beijing went off.
- It way past my bedtime.
- We ran away from the dinner
table to turn the TV on and we were screaming.
And I think my grandma was like, what's going on?
- We were all just going wild.
- This is like swimming going on halfway across the world.
Like, why are we getting so hyped up for this?
This is awesome.
- Craziest race of all time.
Like, I watch it when I'm sad to make me happy.
- I honestly have chills right now just thinking of it.
- Watching Jason Lezak just come back
and have a monster split.
- I watched the DVD quite a few times.
- I still get goosebumps thinking about that.
- That had to be the moment that I was like,
What? That is huge! That is so cool.
- That's a performance that was
incredibly inspiring for me.
- That is the best moment in like history.
- That's going to go down as one of the greatest
relays of all time.
- You think about things like on paper, things should be
a certain way, you know what I mean?
But the Olympics like, things change.
- I always get, I'll never forget
you screaming at the end of that race.
That's so cool, Rowdy.
I go, wait a second,
I normally scream, but that wasn't me.
That was my partner. Believe it or not.
[Announcer] Here comes Lezak!
Unbelievable at the end! He's done it!
The US has done it!
They did it! A new world record!
- Take your marks.
[Announcer] Phelps going first.
Amaury Leveaux of France leads it
off second fastest ever in the 50 meter free.
The reason the French have come onto the scene here is
that they've got three sprinters who have come
on in the last year or so, a little bit out of nowhere.
- They have come out of nowhere.
I mean, they were nowhere on the radar screen at all.
Look at Eamon Sullivan from Australia, though.
Wow. He's out.
Oh, my goodness. 22.48
- He's the world record holder in the 50 free.
We expected Sullivan from Australia to lead it out
but don't expect him to have the fire power to stay up.
- No, Phelps will close on him.
He's just got to hope to stay out of that wash
that Sullivan has now created. Look at the world record line.
Way ahead of it is a number of swimmers.
Australia had the lead thanks to Sullivan.
And the pull for the United States goes
Garrett Weber-Gale in his first Olympic swim.
- World record there for Australia's Eamon Sullivan
to lead things off, but look at this world record line.
You know, I think the winning relay, first of all it's going
to take a world record to win.
They could break the world record by three or four
seconds, that's how good
all these teams are.
- Garrett Weber-Gale has to lead for the United States.
What is it going to take down
the stretch of this race for the Americans to have
a chance in the end with France?
- The problem is Bousquet
for France was 46.6 in the prelims.
And then you've got Bernard,
the former world record holder now.
They've got to get out there way ahead.
Cullen Jones, probably the slowest leg of the four.
He earned that spot to be on the relay in the prelims.
US has the slight lead in the third leg
of this four man event.
Freddie Bousquet
has taken over the lead, though, for France.
Fastest relay split in history in the prelims
for Bousquet, who swam at Auburn.
And then you've got Cullen Jones,
who swam in the prelim relay
and earned his spot in this final, but France has taken
the lead up there in lane five over the United States.
Alain Bernard awaits as the anchor guy,
and Jason Lezak is going to have to make up
some ground on Alain Bernard who stands 6'5
and can absolutely fly.
- I just don't think they can do it, Dan.
I mean, Jason Lezak has been there
how many times in his career
has he anchored this free relay and medley relay
but I just don't think he can do it.
He's trying to ride that wave as much as possible.
- Bernard is pulling away from him.
Lezak, a three time Olympian.
World record is absolutely going to be shattered here.
The United States trying to hang on to second.
They should get the silver medal.
Australia is in bronze territory right now,
but Lezak is closing a little bit on Bernard!
Can the veteran chase him down
and pull off a shocker here?
- Well there's no doubt that he's tightening up!
Bernard is losing some ground!
Here comes Lezak! Unbelievable at the end!
he's done it! The US has done it!
- He did it! He did it!
(crowd cheers)
Phelps's hope's alive!
46.06 split for Lezak.
What a clutch, fast swim when they needed it!