By now, you probably know all about Michael Phelps losing to fellow American Ryan Lochte and failing to even place in the 400-meter IM. If my Twitter feed is anything to go by, people were shockingly happy about this. I even saw Phelps get compared to the dreaded Yankees. Somehow I don’t think I’d be seeing these responses if Lochte wasn’t American. Still, Phelps isn’t the only superstar Olympian who might be knocked from his perch in London. Usain Bolt might be in trouble as well.
Usain Bolt, world famous for basically being a human-cheetah hybrid, has a challenge to his title for Fastest Man Alive. The challenge comes in the form of fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake. Blake beat Bolt in the 100-meter and 200-meter races during the Jamaican trials for the Olympics. However, Usain was injured during those trials. Blake also won the 100-meter at last year’s world championships, but only after Bolt false started his way to disqualification.
Olympic gold medalist and former 100-meter world record holder Maurice Greene has predicted that Blake will win the 100-meter. He thinks Usain Bolt will likely still win the 200-meter, but it’s the 100-meter race that garners the most attention.
Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt are probably the most famous and decorated athletes competing in the 2012 Olympics and they’re both facing new challengers chasing right behind them, ready to leap at the first opportunity to pass them. And these challenges are coming from their own countries, their own teammates.
Will we be talking about Ryan Lochte and Yohan Blake at the next Olympics? Or will Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt hold on to their status as the best athletes in their sports for another cycle?