Quote of the Day/Week-Michael Phelps

Welcome to the May 23, 2012, edition of our blog. Today, we will continue quoting American athletes who won gold or silver medals at the summer Olympics in honor of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. We want to thank those of you from Greece, Lebanon and Bangladesh who have visited our blog today.

Today's quote is from swimmer Michael Phelps, 26, from Baltimore, Maryland. Phelps won six gold and two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is second only to Soviet gymnast Laris Latynina, 77, in terms of total medals won. But, Phelps may well pass her as he is slated to compete in London.

Here is his quote:

"I always thought it would be neat to make the Olympic team."

Quote of the Day/Week- Alexander Popov

Today, in honor of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics, we are quoting famous Olympic athletes from yesteryear. This month, we are focusing on international athletes and next month we intend to quote more American Olympic medalists.

For today's quote, we are going with the great Russian swimmer Alexander Popov, 40, who won two gold and two silver medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and again at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Additionally, Popov won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He is now a swimming coach in Australia; here is his quote:

"If we can convince you to take this historic opportunity today, together we can change the world tomorrow."

Quote of the Day/Week- Mark Spitz

Today, we continue to quote American athletes who won medals at the Olympics; next week, we will start quoting international athletes though we suspect it will be very difficult to find a quote from Turkish weightlifter Naim Suleymanolgu, aka The Pocket Hercules, who won gold in three different Olympics.

But, we were able to find a good quip from swimmer Mark Spitz, 62, who actually won nine gold medals over two Olympics. After winning two team gold medals at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Spitz literally made a good splash when he won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics; that record held until another American swimmer Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The major achievement by Spitz, who is Jewish, was sadly overshadowed by the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.

Here is the quote from Spitz:

"I just tried to keep my cool and continue with my race plan: to win."