http://www.malaya.com.ph/aug14/spor2.htm
I think, if the negotiation will push through, she might represent the phils in asian/sea games.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews.../9462331.htm?1c
QUOTE
Out of the limelight, Natalie Coughlin quietly gathers five medals
By ANN TATKO
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)
ATHENS - So this is what quietly sliding into history looks like.
With a silver medal Saturday night, Natalie Coughlin became only the sixth American woman to win five medals in a single Olympics. The U.S. 400-meter medley relay team placed second behind Australia to give Coughlin two golds, two silvers and a bronze in eight days of swimming.
Impressive seems too inadequate a description.
Consider this: Her name now sits alongside swimmers Dara Torres and Shirley Babashoff, gymnasts Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller and track star Marion Jones. No U.S. woman has ever won more than six medals in one games. No other U.S. woman will reach five in these Olympics.
Yet, few headlines will recount that fact.
On the same night, Jenny Thompson passed Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi to become the most decorated swimming Olympian, with 12 career medals. The men's 400 medley relay team, minus Michael Phelps, broke its world record.
Coughlin never had a chance to take top billing, outside of Northern California, not on this night or in these Olympics.
She had none of the fanfare surrounding Phelps, whose Herculean performance netted him eight medals, even if two were a color other than gold. She had none of the drama surrounding gymnast Carly Patterson, whose comeback performance won the United States an all-around gold medal.
Less assured is Coughlin's future as a Wheaties-box candidate.
That's reality from inside the Olympics beast, where 10,500 athletes from 202 countries compete for 903 medals and more than 1,200 hours of television coverage. Even highly successful Olympians sometimes get the blink-and-you'll-miss it treatment.
For her part, Coughlin got five blinks, which is more than most.
Usually, the Olympics thrive on the heroic moments and three-tissue life stories. Coughlin's story lacks that kind of made-for-NBC pizzazz.
She wore the label of potential Olympic champion for six long years. A shoulder injury delayed her chance at turning promise into glory in 2000. A viral infection all but knocked her out of the 2003 world championships.
When she finally arrived at an Olympics, she did so on the same plane as Phelps.
Repeatedly, she has said this past month that Phelps was welcome to the spotlight. She never wanted it. Reporters who doubted that, who dared to question her on it, were met with a hard stare or knee-jerk roll of the eyes.
She has never gone in search of a camera or microphone. She accepted invitations for talk shows because they sounded like fun, not because they would make her a household name.
Want to see her face light up?
Try recreating the scene from Saturday night. Minutes after winning silver, the four members of the U.S. relay team filed toward the reporters.
A public relations director waved the swimmers on, delaying the interviews until after the awards ceremony.
``No press?'' Coughlin asked, her eyes as wide as her smile.
Not until later, one of her teammates explained.
``Oh,'' she said.
And it's not over yet. The real buzz starts now that pool time has ended. Record-setting Olympic champions don't entirely escape notice.
Coughlin will make the grand tour of talk shows, photo shoots and sponsor junkets. Reporters will pay even more attention to her at meets because of her status as an Olympic champion.
By the next Olympics, Coughlin won't dodge the spotlight quite as easily, even with Phelps as a deflector-shield.
She can consult Thompson for proof of that. Thompson won three medals in 1992. Four years later, she couldn't sneeze without her photo being taken, and she came home with only three relay medals.
Saturday marked Thompson's Olympic finale - really, she won't be back for No. 5. She seemed almost relieved to step aside for Coughlin.
``Natalie is an amazing swimmer,''' Thompson said. ``She will carry the torch in more ways than one. You keep an Olympic championship for life, and all the pressures, expectations, demands and attention that come with it.''
Already, the expectations are there. One goal was left unfulfilled here.
Coughlin never broke her 100 backstroke world record. She missed it in Saturday's relay by .10 of a second.
``(U.S. coach) Mark Schubert told us in our meeting that when you set really, really high goals, you're not going to achieve them all,'' Coughlin said. ``It's important in the next few days to step back and recognize how well we did.''
We may just do that.
By ANN TATKO
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)
ATHENS - So this is what quietly sliding into history looks like.
With a silver medal Saturday night, Natalie Coughlin became only the sixth American woman to win five medals in a single Olympics. The U.S. 400-meter medley relay team placed second behind Australia to give Coughlin two golds, two silvers and a bronze in eight days of swimming.
Impressive seems too inadequate a description.
Consider this: Her name now sits alongside swimmers Dara Torres and Shirley Babashoff, gymnasts Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller and track star Marion Jones. No U.S. woman has ever won more than six medals in one games. No other U.S. woman will reach five in these Olympics.
Yet, few headlines will recount that fact.
On the same night, Jenny Thompson passed Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi to become the most decorated swimming Olympian, with 12 career medals. The men's 400 medley relay team, minus Michael Phelps, broke its world record.
Coughlin never had a chance to take top billing, outside of Northern California, not on this night or in these Olympics.
She had none of the fanfare surrounding Phelps, whose Herculean performance netted him eight medals, even if two were a color other than gold. She had none of the drama surrounding gymnast Carly Patterson, whose comeback performance won the United States an all-around gold medal.
Less assured is Coughlin's future as a Wheaties-box candidate.
That's reality from inside the Olympics beast, where 10,500 athletes from 202 countries compete for 903 medals and more than 1,200 hours of television coverage. Even highly successful Olympians sometimes get the blink-and-you'll-miss it treatment.
For her part, Coughlin got five blinks, which is more than most.
Usually, the Olympics thrive on the heroic moments and three-tissue life stories. Coughlin's story lacks that kind of made-for-NBC pizzazz.
She wore the label of potential Olympic champion for six long years. A shoulder injury delayed her chance at turning promise into glory in 2000. A viral infection all but knocked her out of the 2003 world championships.
When she finally arrived at an Olympics, she did so on the same plane as Phelps.
Repeatedly, she has said this past month that Phelps was welcome to the spotlight. She never wanted it. Reporters who doubted that, who dared to question her on it, were met with a hard stare or knee-jerk roll of the eyes.
She has never gone in search of a camera or microphone. She accepted invitations for talk shows because they sounded like fun, not because they would make her a household name.
Want to see her face light up?
Try recreating the scene from Saturday night. Minutes after winning silver, the four members of the U.S. relay team filed toward the reporters.
A public relations director waved the swimmers on, delaying the interviews until after the awards ceremony.
``No press?'' Coughlin asked, her eyes as wide as her smile.
Not until later, one of her teammates explained.
``Oh,'' she said.
And it's not over yet. The real buzz starts now that pool time has ended. Record-setting Olympic champions don't entirely escape notice.
Coughlin will make the grand tour of talk shows, photo shoots and sponsor junkets. Reporters will pay even more attention to her at meets because of her status as an Olympic champion.
By the next Olympics, Coughlin won't dodge the spotlight quite as easily, even with Phelps as a deflector-shield.
She can consult Thompson for proof of that. Thompson won three medals in 1992. Four years later, she couldn't sneeze without her photo being taken, and she came home with only three relay medals.
Saturday marked Thompson's Olympic finale - really, she won't be back for No. 5. She seemed almost relieved to step aside for Coughlin.
``Natalie is an amazing swimmer,''' Thompson said. ``She will carry the torch in more ways than one. You keep an Olympic championship for life, and all the pressures, expectations, demands and attention that come with it.''
Already, the expectations are there. One goal was left unfulfilled here.
Coughlin never broke her 100 backstroke world record. She missed it in Saturday's relay by .10 of a second.
``(U.S. coach) Mark Schubert told us in our meeting that when you set really, really high goals, you're not going to achieve them all,'' Coughlin said. ``It's important in the next few days to step back and recognize how well we did.''
We may just do that.
