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飞鱼水怪菲尔普斯，奇人的证据 (From SMH)-
WHEN Michael Phelps left the pool after his 200m individual medley victory yesterday, complete with a now customary world record, only the collective might of the Chinese, American and German teams had bettered his tally of six gold medals at these Games.
More glory presumably awaits in the coming days, when he is favoured to match, then break Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in a single Olympics. The excitement builds with each appearance on the blocks.
Now comes the time for dissemination: the hows, whens and whys of the most remarkable performance in Olympic history. The 12,000 calorie-per-day diet, the 96-kilometre-per-week training regimen and the unquantifiable mental strength have all played their part.
But a glance at his 2005 autobiography, Beneath The Surface, offers an insight into the physiological factors behind Phelps's freakish abilities in the pool - and some are downright frightening. In his late teens, already well advanced on the path to swimming greatness, Phelps attended a training session and felt his heart accelerate at an alarming pace. Bob Bowman, his coach, immediately consulted Phelps's mother, Debbie, and suggested he undergo tests.
His fear: Marfan syndrome, a disease which can lead to defects of the heart valve and aorta, and substantially reduce the life expectancy of those it afflicts.
"If you reach out your arms and form a T and your wingspan is longer than your height, you can be at risk," Phelps wrote.
Phelps, indeed, displays the classic symptoms of the disease. His elongated frame is now 193cm - about six feet and four inches on the old scale. But his arm span is considerably more at 208cm.
"In my case, those measurements have always been very close," he wrote. "I didn't know at the time why the doctor decided to look into this. My mom and Bob didn't want me to freak out, so they told me that it was simply a good idea for young athletes to have an EKG [electrocardiogram] test in order to look at the heart."
Phelps's measurements have prompted some to speculate that the very physical factors that have formed the fastest swimming stroke in history could be 23-year-old's fatal flaw.
"He grew unevenly," his mother once said. "It was his ears, then he had very long arms, then he would catch up somewhere else."
Tests cleared Phelps of Marfan syndrome at the time, but doctors have urged vigilance and the American star still undergoes annual check-ups for the disease.
"Fortunately, everything was and still is okay," he wrote, in the chapter titled, 'Now for the long haul'. "I have been tested once a year ever since at [Baltimore hospital] Johns Hopkins under the direction of Dr Peter Roe and the tissues are strong, the aortic route is clear and my heart is in good shape - as long as my Baltimore Ravens are winning."
Another bodily trait might also have helped transform Phelps into the perfect, indefatigable swimming machine. In sixth grade, the Maryland native was diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and prescribed Ritalin to curb his near boundless energy.
After growing frustrated with the drowsiness caused by the drug, Phelps turned to sport, where the symptoms that so agitated teachers greatly impressed coaches. "I had so many outlets for energy release," he wrote. "I'd go from a lacrosse game to a baseball game to swim practice."
Phelps has certainly had to draw on all energy reserves at these Games. In his quest for an unprecedented eight gold medals, he will swim a total of 38.1 kilometres in heats, semis and finals in his nine-day Games program. By yesterday he had set six world records. With the 100 metres butterfly and the 4 x 100 metre medley relay remaining, Phelps's stamina will be tested like no other swimmer before him.
"There is still something left in the tank," he said yesterday.
Long before his remarkable medal haul in Beijing, Phelps was the subject of fascination among sports scientists, psychologists and stroke technicians. A recent study found that his muscles contain just two-thirds the lactic acid of other swimmers at the end of a race, while his massive hands and size-14 feet displace water at a remarkable rate. All this is fuelled by a kilojoule intake six times the average adult male's, and includes pizzas, pasta, sandwiches and chocolate chip pancakes.
But all this would count for little without the drive, the hunger, the redoubtable mental strength that has compelled him to swim 16 kilometres a day (including at Christmas), six days a week, since he was 14.
His perfectly tuned body might have launched him to six gold medals in Beijing, but the last two may just come down to resolve.
[ 本帖最后由 Artcore 于 2008-8-16 09:17 编辑 ] |
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