They say that he swims like a fish and who could deny he is the crowd favorite! You can say he is living the American dream.
He makes his mother smile, he plans to write books, and able to mix it up with the hottest stars in music and Hollywood. With all this, who needs swimming? (Well, even though swimming is what got him here!)
Certainly not Michael Phelps — not anymore, at least. Yet on the platform again but not for a gold medal. Michael Phelps will be a presenter at the 2008 Video Music Awards, all that fresh Olympic bling will certainly help.
The swimmer who took home a record-breaking eight gold medals from the Beijing Games joins noted celebrities Miley Cyrus, Scarlett Johansson, Lindsay Lohan and Ciara as presenters at the Sept. 7 VMAs telecast from Los Angeles. British comedian Russell Brand will host.
It's been a busy week for Phelps, who announced he'll write a book about his road to Olympic history (to be released just in time for the holidays) and plans to host the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live." On Thursday, Phelps was in New York City, filming a cameo for the HBO series "Entourage," and on Friday, he celebrated with a parade at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Talk about cashing in your gold!!!
Certain parts of this article have been pulled from: http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080829/ap_en_ce/music_mtv_awards_phelps
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Olympian makes a splash
Published Thursday, August 14, 2008
by David Parker, The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. – The John F. Kennedy Pool and Recreation Center straddles nearly an entire block in a city neighborhood where it is not uncommon to find new housing stock standing cheek by jowl with abandoned buildings and empty lots strewn with debris.
In the standard American sports narrative, this is not where Olympic swimming champions are nurtured – at least, until now.
ASSOCIATED PRESS/BOB BUKATY
Cullen Jones, left, changes to teammate Nathan Adrian in a men’s 4x100 meter freesyle relay heat in the National Aquatic Center at the Beijing Olympics Aug. 9. Jones, who trains and lives in Charlotte, is the second African American to earn an Olympic gold medal in swimming.
It was here that Cullen Jones learned to swim competitively and first professed his Olympic ambitions. And it was here on Monday that friends and former teammates celebrated his gold medal-winning performance on the U.S. men's 400 meter relay team.
The victory, in a pulsating race that was in doubt until U.S. anchor Jason Lezak touched the wall a whisker in front of France's Alain Bernard, made Jones only the second African-American swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal, after Anthony Ervin in 2000.
“He was one of the good ones who came out of here,'' Moustapha Kamara, a swimming instructor and supervisor at the Kennedy center, said Monday. “It's a very proud feeling knowing that someone from here is coming home with the gold. It was overwhelming to actually see it.''
Jones, 24, who lives in Charlotte and was a star swimmer at N.C. State University, was born in the Bronx and grew up next door to Newark in Irvington, a city with a reputation for crime and violence that tends to overshadow most other news. He gravitated to the Kennedy center as a youth and competed on the local swim team there, impressing teammates with his work ethic.
Brennon Smith grew up across the street from the pool at a time when, he said, few people used it even though it was one of the only public recreation facilities in the area. Jones was a fixture there, and eventually his enthusiasm rubbed off on Smith.
“Even if no else was there, he'd be in there practicing,'' Smith said. “Watching how passionate he was about it got me into swimming. He was a great role model, always trying to help someone out.''
Jones returned to Newark last fall to promote a water safety program for urban children, an initiative spurred by a study by the Centers for Disease Control that showed the rate of drowning deaths for blacks between ages 10 and 19 was nearly three times that of whites.
The issue has personal relevance for Jones, who often tells the story of how he nearly drowned at age 5 when the inner tube he was riding at an amusement park flipped over and trapped him underwater.
The experience couldn't keep Jones away from the water, and he arrived at Newark's St. Benedict's Prep last fall already on a mission.
“He was already talking about making the Olympics when he got here,'' St. Benedict's coach Glenn Cassidy recalled Monday. “We could tell he had a lot of talent, and that he had the drive to do it.''
Cassidy remembers Jones as a personable but quiet youth who eventually matured both in and out of the pool and earned a leadership position that gave him the responsibility of overseeing 25 or 30 other students each day.
For Cassidy, who said the U.S. team's victory had him “jumping up and down, screaming and crying at the same time,'' Jones' accomplishment should not be underestimated.
“It's about breaking stereotypes,'' he said. “For people to see someone of color who can stand out in a nontraditional area in a role that is positive, is tremendous.''
by David Parker, The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. – The John F. Kennedy Pool and Recreation Center straddles nearly an entire block in a city neighborhood where it is not uncommon to find new housing stock standing cheek by jowl with abandoned buildings and empty lots strewn with debris.
In the standard American sports narrative, this is not where Olympic swimming champions are nurtured – at least, until now.
ASSOCIATED PRESS/BOB BUKATY
Cullen Jones, left, changes to teammate Nathan Adrian in a men’s 4x100 meter freesyle relay heat in the National Aquatic Center at the Beijing Olympics Aug. 9. Jones, who trains and lives in Charlotte, is the second African American to earn an Olympic gold medal in swimming.
It was here that Cullen Jones learned to swim competitively and first professed his Olympic ambitions. And it was here on Monday that friends and former teammates celebrated his gold medal-winning performance on the U.S. men's 400 meter relay team.
The victory, in a pulsating race that was in doubt until U.S. anchor Jason Lezak touched the wall a whisker in front of France's Alain Bernard, made Jones only the second African-American swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal, after Anthony Ervin in 2000.
“He was one of the good ones who came out of here,'' Moustapha Kamara, a swimming instructor and supervisor at the Kennedy center, said Monday. “It's a very proud feeling knowing that someone from here is coming home with the gold. It was overwhelming to actually see it.''
Jones, 24, who lives in Charlotte and was a star swimmer at N.C. State University, was born in the Bronx and grew up next door to Newark in Irvington, a city with a reputation for crime and violence that tends to overshadow most other news. He gravitated to the Kennedy center as a youth and competed on the local swim team there, impressing teammates with his work ethic.
Brennon Smith grew up across the street from the pool at a time when, he said, few people used it even though it was one of the only public recreation facilities in the area. Jones was a fixture there, and eventually his enthusiasm rubbed off on Smith.
“Even if no else was there, he'd be in there practicing,'' Smith said. “Watching how passionate he was about it got me into swimming. He was a great role model, always trying to help someone out.''
Jones returned to Newark last fall to promote a water safety program for urban children, an initiative spurred by a study by the Centers for Disease Control that showed the rate of drowning deaths for blacks between ages 10 and 19 was nearly three times that of whites.
The issue has personal relevance for Jones, who often tells the story of how he nearly drowned at age 5 when the inner tube he was riding at an amusement park flipped over and trapped him underwater.
The experience couldn't keep Jones away from the water, and he arrived at Newark's St. Benedict's Prep last fall already on a mission.
“He was already talking about making the Olympics when he got here,'' St. Benedict's coach Glenn Cassidy recalled Monday. “We could tell he had a lot of talent, and that he had the drive to do it.''
Cassidy remembers Jones as a personable but quiet youth who eventually matured both in and out of the pool and earned a leadership position that gave him the responsibility of overseeing 25 or 30 other students each day.
For Cassidy, who said the U.S. team's victory had him “jumping up and down, screaming and crying at the same time,'' Jones' accomplishment should not be underestimated.
“It's about breaking stereotypes,'' he said. “For people to see someone of color who can stand out in a nontraditional area in a role that is positive, is tremendous.''
Obama campaign unveils second Olympics ad
From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
Obama is set to release its second Olympics spot on Monday.
(CNN) — Barack Obama’s campaign unveiled its second Olympics spot Thursday, another economy-focused ad aimed at middle class voters.
The ad, Three Bedroom Ranch, will air on national cable and broadcast television in all 50 states beginning next Monday.
“A plan to build. A plan to put hard working Americans first,” says the announcer in the 30-second spot, over footage of a house being constructed. “He’ll put the middle class ahead of Corporate Interests to grow the economy. End tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help businesses that create jobs here. Invest in education. Cut taxes for working families. And make energy independence an urgent national priority.”
Obama’s first Olympics buy was another positive spot, focused on his “green jobs” policy proposals.
During the same period, his campaign has also released tough local radio spots attacking opponent John McCain as he visits manufacturing communities in battleground states, including an ad that said the presumptive Republican nominee and his campaign manager Rick Davis were partly responsible for the potential loss of thousands of Ohio jobs, and another that painted him as uninterested in protecting motorcycle manufacturing jobs. That ad was timed to coincide with his trip to York, Pennsylvania, site of a major Harley-Davidson plant.
Obama is set to release its second Olympics spot on Monday.
(CNN) — Barack Obama’s campaign unveiled its second Olympics spot Thursday, another economy-focused ad aimed at middle class voters.
The ad, Three Bedroom Ranch, will air on national cable and broadcast television in all 50 states beginning next Monday.
“A plan to build. A plan to put hard working Americans first,” says the announcer in the 30-second spot, over footage of a house being constructed. “He’ll put the middle class ahead of Corporate Interests to grow the economy. End tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help businesses that create jobs here. Invest in education. Cut taxes for working families. And make energy independence an urgent national priority.”
Obama’s first Olympics buy was another positive spot, focused on his “green jobs” policy proposals.
During the same period, his campaign has also released tough local radio spots attacking opponent John McCain as he visits manufacturing communities in battleground states, including an ad that said the presumptive Republican nominee and his campaign manager Rick Davis were partly responsible for the potential loss of thousands of Ohio jobs, and another that painted him as uninterested in protecting motorcycle manufacturing jobs. That ad was timed to coincide with his trip to York, Pennsylvania, site of a major Harley-Davidson plant.
Nike Clark Kents: Bejing 2008
Pre-Olympic fever delivered a whole range of fashion. Now that the Olympics have started, will designers be influenced by what they see in Beijing? I say yes. The Olympic Opening Ceremony was sure to have inspired some outrageous new design ideas in fashion and gadgets and even toys.
First out the box are these one-off DJ Clark Kent sneakers called “Beijing 2008 And The Winner Is…” They are Nike Air Force Ones that make use of the metallic trilogy of gold, silver and bronze reflected on the Olympic podiums.
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