In mid-2005, Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports, had secured the support of the International Olympic Committee for the critical move of the finals of the key television sports of swimming and gymnastics to morning hours in China so they could be shown live in prime time in the United States. But he had one more person he needed to consult: Michael Phelps.
"Michael was the first outsider I talked to about it," Mr. Ebersol said. . . . He said he wanted to make sure that competing in the morning would not harm the performance of the likely American star of the Games.
Oh. Okay. Michael Phelps got to decide what time of day his Olympic finals took place.
Yeah, that's fair.
The article also implies that Shawn Johnson got the same perk, and she too went on to win. Yay America! Setting the start time and then winning the race.
2 comments:
Well, in all fairness it wasn't "Hey Michael, what time do you want to race" but "Hey Michael, this is what we want to do, can you handle it?"
My mom's best friend, 'way back when, was a slender woman who had all three of her children by Caesarian section. When it was time to deliver one of them, the nurse came to tell the doctor, who was at that time attending another, notoriously cranky, pregnant woman. "Doctor," said the nurse, "Mrs O'Gara is ready to have her baby now." The cranky woman raised a howl: "How come SHE gets to decide when to have a baby?"
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