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Paralympic-Olympic teams' White House visit caps a whirlwind summer

On Tuesday, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams had the honor of visiting the White House, where President Bush congratulated all the athletes for their accomplishments in Beijing and for representing the country with such pride. More than 500 athletes attended the ceremony on the South Lawn, including Michael Phelps.

The festivities actually began the night before, with a dinner for all the athletes at the Hilton Baltimore. The party was a huge reunion for most of us who have not seen our teammates since returning from Beijing. It was also the first opportunity for the Olympic and Paralympic teams to interact because the Olympic Games ended before the Paralympians arrived in Beijing. It was fun taking pictures with and getting to know the Olympic athletes.

During the dinner I looked around the ballroom filled with athletes and thought how amazing it was to be sitting here in this room with our country's best athletes and to actually be a member of this elite group. It was very humbling.

This was my third visit to the White House. I had the chance to meet and talk with President Clinton after the Sydney Games in 2000 and I shook hands with President Bush after returning from the Paralympics in Athens in 2004. Each experience is different; it is still an honor and a privilege to be in the company of the president.

The White House visit is the last public appearance for both teams and caps a whirlwind summer of excitement. I still have a few public appearances here in Michigan as well as some national appearances for my sponsor, AT&T. I will also be attending the Golden Goggles, which is the academy awards for swimming in New York on Nov. 17.

Category: Paralympics

Watch Paralympics online

The 2008 Beijing Paralympics aren't getting a lot of TV time, but you can find live coverage of the Games online at Paralympic Sport TV.

You can also catch up on previous days events and get daily recaps on its YouTube channel. Here's a clip from Day 1 of the Games.

Check out what these elite athletes with disabilities are doing. It's inspiring and amazing.

Also, follow along as Clinton Township swimmer Cheryl Angelelli shares her experiences in Beijing in the Disabilities blog.

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Category: Paralympics

Cheryl Angelelli takes silver in 100m freestyle at Paralympics

Metro Detroiter Cheryl Angelelli earned the U.S. Paralympic team's first medal of the 2008 Beijing Games, a silver in the 100 meter freestyle Sunday.

Angelelli was ranked No. 1 going into the event, but competitor Nely Miranda of Mexico dropped 7 seconds off her usual time and grabbed the gold.

"I swam a time of 1:50.2, which is a lifetime best time for me (I dropped 3 seconds)," Angelelli said in an e-mail to friends and family. "So I feel good knowing that I gave it everything I could and I have no regrets. ... Also on a positive note, my first 50 split of the 100 was also a lifetime best time. I swim the 50 free on Sept. 15 and right now I am seeded fourth, but if I swim the time I did today, I have a chance of getting on the medal podium. Unfortunately, the girl from Mexico who beat me today is also swimming the 50 free. But it will be a new day and a new race."

Angelelli said she was nervous before her swim until she spotted her husband, Shawn Kornoelje, in the stands. "Then I knew I was going to be OK," she said. "After my race I went up into the spectator area to see him and show him the medal I had around my neck and as soon as I hit the general public area I was mobbed by Chinese people wanting their picture with me and my medal and asking for autographs."

Universal Sport TV is broadcasting the games and Angelelli's Sept. 15 race (the 50 meter free) will be broadcast live. For more information, go to paralympics.teamusa.org.

Good luck Cheryl!

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Category: The scene

Beyond Beijing: Lightning Bolts And Laissez-Faire

With the XXth pick in the 2009 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions select ... Usain Bolt?

No, my money's on the Oakland Raiders to pull a stunt like that. And it's not going to happen, anyway. Bolt's got no intention of giving up the life he's got now, dancing and dashing and driving IOC president Jacques Rogge mad every four years.

But before I dive back into the real world -- specifically, NFL football -- here's a few thoughts on the last few weeks spent in Beijing:

1) What to expect of a post-Olympics China? In the short term, I don't think we should expect much, if any, change from a government that's likely feeling even more empowered after the Beijing Olympic successes. But I've always held the belief that a revolution comes from within, and I suppose that's where the hope lies for a more open society in China. The "Bird's Nest Generation" -- one-third of the 1.3 billion population here is age 10-29 -- will grow up with Western influences unlike anything the generations before have seen, and that's where the change will come from if it's coming at all.

But I'm no sociologist, so I'll stop there. Back to sports ...

2) As for Michael Phelps, it'll be interesting to see how he handles the fame this time around. Four years ago, a back injury and a DUI arrest made short work of the Olympic afterglow. This time, it'll be the tabloid frenzy and the overexposure that he'll have to deal with, even as he heads back home to Baltimore -- the new swimming Mecca -- and his new $1.7 million condo. He'll sign a bunch of big endorsement deals through 2012 and the London Games - worth tens of millions of dollars -- but the biggest deecision might be whether he'll leave Speedo for Nike in the next quadrennium.

2) Bolt's "a bad, bad man," as 200-meter silver medalist Shawn Crawford told me after the Jamaican had erased Michael Johnson's unbreakable record. If you ask me, he's a dream come true for the sport of track and field -- provided he's clean. And as naive as this sounds, I do think he's legit, based on his track record (a world junior champion at 15, and so on.) He'll be back on the track Friday at the biggest one-day Grand Prix meet of the year, running the 100. The message to would-be sponsors: Catch me if you can.

3) The Redeem Team did the job on the court. But what was even more important, perhaps, was the way they did their job off the court. In short, they acted like they cared. And I'll say this, too: Kobe Bryant might be a bigger international star than Michael Jordan ever was, as crazy as that sounds.

4) Best of the rest? The U.S. men's volleyball team winning gold was a heartwarming end to a tragic story; the Brits' golden bounty; the tearful press conference after Liu Xiang walked off the track will be hard to forget; Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru running arguably the greatest marathon in history; weightlifter Matthias Steiner's touching tribute; another heart-wrenching misfire for Matt Emmons; and, yes, Stephanie Rice.

Tayshaun Prince and Katie Smith are happy campers...

Two pro basketball players from Detroit, two gold medals. Not a bad weekend haul for Tayshaun Prince and Katie Smith. It's Tay's first medal, Katie's third, and it was hard to tell who was more giddy. The medals are actually quite striking. They're made of a gold rim, with a circular piece of jade in the middle. They're labelled oddy, saying basketball on top, then men or women on the bottom. On the flip side is the Olympic rings and the Beijing logos. Tayshaun was really examining his, while Katie was a cooler customer.

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Category: Track and field

Americans Run Well, But Kenyan Runs Away With Marathon

Brian Sell's blood-soaked shoes Sunday showed just how hard a marathon can be. Blisters formed and popped as he wearily dragged his way through 26.6 miles of pain.

But as we look back on all the impressive athletic achievements at these Beijing Olympics, I know one that'll get lost in the shuffle.

What Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru did today was pretty amazing. In 80- to 85-degree heat, the 21-year-old ran away from most of the field in the men's marathon, setting an Olympic record in 2:06:32. That's a time you'd expect to see in London or Paris, perhaps. But not Beijing. A 4:49 pace? This young runner will own the world record soon enough, I think.

"I'm blown away," said Dathan Ritzenhein, the Rockford native was ninth in 2:11:59, best among the Americans. He wasn't the only one, though. They all were on this day.

Tayshaun's support from home.

There's no doubt Tayshaun Prince is excited about being so close to winning a gold medal. You can see it in his eyes when he talks about it. He's like a little kid. He's spoken to Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton a few times since he's been here in China, with them offering their support. Like all of us, Tayshaun's really ready to come home too. But I think he's most excited about going home with a medal to show to his Pistons teammates. Only Antonio McDyess (gold in 2000) will have an Olympic medal.

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Phelps + Rice + Tabloids = A Perfect Love Triangle

Now that he's got the gold, will the girls get him? (And for the record, Michael Phelps already had a girlfriend, last I knew before Beijing.) The tabloids say Phelps and Australian star Stephanie Rice are a hot item heading home. There's also talk of Lindsay Lohan -- she's a big fan, appparently -- and Lily Donaldson (Phelps is in London as we speak), and so on.

If Phelps thought he was living life in a fishbowl, wait 'till he swims a few laps amid this feeding frenzy.

Pistons fans make of this what you will...

Former Pistons reserve guard is starting for Argentina. A backcourt of 'Los and Manu Ginobili. That's all I'm saying :)

And Spain will play....

either the U.S. or Argentina for the gold medal in men's hoops. The Spanish downed Lithuania 91-86 in their semifinal. It was a close game, and Spain should thank their lucky stars that the Lithuanians choked in the final minutes. Otherwise, they could have gone down in a hail of threes. The Team USA game starts in 10 minutes.