Protest denied: Serbians admit defeat to Michael Phelps

(click image to enlarge)

BEIJING -- It has been confirmed that Serbia filed an official protest over the finish in the 100-meter butterfly, won by one-hundredth of a second by Michael Phelps over Milo Cavic. After reviewing the slow-motion tape, the Serbians still weren't sure that Phelps had won, but they acknowledged that it would be futile to continue to argue.

"It was very clear that the Serbia swimmer touched second after Michael Phelps,'' a Kenyan referee, Ben Ekumbo, for the international swimming federation (FINA) said. "One was stroking and one was gliding.''

Said Branislav Jevtic, the head of Serbia's delegation: "They [FINA referees] 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.''

USA Swimming spokesman Jamie Olson said the tape was slowed to one frame every 10-thousandth of a second just to make sure which swimmer touched first.

Cavic, who was born in Anaheim, raised in Tustin and swam for UC Berkeley, said: "I'm stoked with what happened. I don't want to fight this. People will be bringing it up for years and saying you won that race. If we got to do this again, I would win.''

Cavic acknowledged that the extra half stroke Phelps took at the end was the difference. It was a gamble, but it paid off. Cavic glided to the wall.

"It's kind of hard to see,''  he said. "I know I had a long finish and Michael Phelps had a short finish.''

-- Randy Harvey

Photo: U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, left, touches home for gold, just ahead of Milorad Cavic from Serbia, right, in the men's 100m butterfly final. Phelps wins his seventh gold medal, equaling Mark Spitz's 1972 Munich Games record, at the National Aquatic Center at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Credit:  Patrick B. Kraemer / EPA

Comments

[Al Ragione]

It really look that the Serbian WON - no one believed Phelp Won including Michael himself and his trainer.
That is a great champion there is no doubt but, the doubt of him winning the 100 butterfly remain... too bad ....

Where is the Video at slow motion???

[Vanja]

Look people, I am Serbian girl, and maybe some of you are right... Maybe really it isn't just a question of - who won this race... But I know very well how it would be if the things were opposite (if Čavić won in the same way). All America would be on their legs, maybe even their government would intervene...(an army?)...

I'm just wondering this - why American sportsmen refuse a test for uncommitted mediums on an Olympic games?

Hmmm...if I think about it more clearly - maybe it would be worst for us, if there is a proof of our wining... We could have another pounding, another war, another...

No, it's better like this... Phelps won, congratulation Americans! :S
Just stay far away from us...

[Deane]

That split second judgement that Michael Phelps made, to stroke instead of just glide, proves that his judgement, his instinct rather, was better than Cavic's. That makes him a gold medal winner! Cavic is welcome to think that "he won that race" but Michael Phelps clearly won!

[DBWSR]

It was a close race, but Milo Cavic led the entire race. He was at the wall before Michael Phelps's arms had even come down. If the race was held on another day, Phelps would probably win easily, but in my mind, he did not win this race. It always amazes me, how those with least will give more than those who have. We all can learn something from this young man from Serbia.

[brad]

You mean the young man from California? The one who graduated from Berkley?

Or the young man from Baltimore whose single mother is a middle school principal?

Don't turn Cavic into something he's not.

[j.c.t.]

Phelps won!

The Serb wasn't smart when as he glided, he lifted his head to slow him down more

[James]

@Vanja: How is it you "know very well how it would be if the things were opposite," exactly? You mean like how Ian Crocker got touched out by the same 0.01 seconds for the bronze medal in this very race? Or how Dara Torres got touched out by the same 0.01 seconds for the gold medal in the 50 free final the next day? Or how Matt Biondi lost to Anthony Nesty in the exact same fashion in the exact same event in Seoul in 1988?

How things would be is how they actually were: in all three cases, the losing athletes accepted their losses with grace and humility, and neither their personal coaches nor the USOC filed a protest.

And what exactly do you have in mind about "American sportsmen [refusing] a test for uncommitted mediums on an Olympic games"? Are you suggesting Phelps (or anyone else on the US team) refused to submit to doping control in Beijing? You do know that Phelps (as well as Dara Torres, I believe) _voluntarily_ signed up for an extra-strict drug control testing program prior to the Games, right?

Finally: for Čavić to say that he'd win the race if they did it again on another day is more than a little disingenuous. Phelps swam 15 races before the 100 fly final. Čavić swam three (the 100 fly prelims and semis, plus the 100 free prelims) -- and then scratched from the freestyle to save his energy for the 100 fly. Funny how very few in the media mention that, no?

/James

[Bojan]

In reply to what James had said, I would agree that Phelps had a more exausting tour during the Olimpics, but never the less it certainly didn't look like he had won this one.

[mike]

Bojan, your an idiot...as well as all others doubting the final results. They've replayed the super slow motion video FRAME BY FRAME dozens of times showing phelps clearly hitting the wall first.

[Misa]

"And what exactly do you have in mind about "American sportsmen [refusing] a test for uncommitted mediums on an Olympic games"? Are you suggesting Phelps (or anyone else on the US team) refused to submit to doping control in Beijing? You do know that Phelps (as well as Dara Torres, I believe) _voluntarily_ signed up for an extra-strict drug control testing program prior to the Games, right?"

If American sportsmen have nothing to hide, why don't they take it? Why do American government have to "guarantee" for them? It's always the same with Americans- basketball team isn't staying in the Olympic village, sportsmen aren't submitted to testing, etc.- always conducting themselves as a some kind of primadonna.

[James]

@Misa: What exactly do you mean by "take it" and "sportsmen aren't submitted to testing"? Are you suggesting that Michael Phelps was somehow exempt from doping controls?? Perhaps you missed my comment in my earlier post about the _voluntary_ extra testing Phelps (as well as Dara Torres and others) signed up for. Since you are obviously too lazy to actually pay attention to what I wrote, here's a BBC link describing the announcement of the program: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/athletics/7384365.stm . You can probably find lots of additional information by just searching around. In any case, I asked a specific question about this very topic in my original post: "Are you suggesting Phelps (or anyone else on the US team) refused to submit to doping control in Beijing?" So far, neither you nor anyone else has answered "yes" and provided any specific evidence.

As for testing at the Games: the World Anti-Doping Agency protocol (http://www.wada-ama.org/en/dynamic.ch2?pageCategory.id=781) specifies that, at a minimum, the following _automatically_ get tested: the top five athletes in any individual event, plus two others, randomly selected (section 5.6.1.2.1); three of the four members of any top-four relay (section 5.6.1.2.2); the three medallists, in a separate test for EPO (section 5.6.1.2.3); and anyone who breaks a world or Olympic record (section 5.6.1.3). Furthermore, refusal to make oneself available for testing is considered to be equivalent to a doping violation (section 5.5 generally).

All of that means Phelps got tested at least five times during the games after his individual wins, and very likely an additional two or three times after the relays. So if you have some specific knowledge that he either refused a test, or failed one, by all means present it -- that would be an incredibly important story, easily the biggest of the Games. But unless and until you have such information, your criticism is pathetically unfounded and you're just making noise.

As for the Olympic village, Phelps stayed there throughout the swimming competition (I belive he roomed with Ryan Lochte). And in any case this story is about the 100 meter butterfly final -- not the basketball team, the U.S. government, or the Olympic village. If you want to spew your obviously anti-American sentiment, you certainly have the right to do so -- but perhaps you could find a more on-topic forum for that discussion, instead of constantly changing the subject of this one when you've run out of arguments to support your failed point.

/James