Olympic Fortunes/Live It!

Michael Phelps may have won eight golds, but apparently he still has to pass the personality test.

That's what agents who specialize with sports endorsements say. Although his medals make him a marketable commodity, just how marketable depends on how he strikes the public. In other words, will people like him?

So, how should Phelps conduct himself if he wants to capitalize on his new notoriety? There's no better example than the master sports endorser. Tiger Woods earned nearly $128 million last year -- $22.9 million on the course and approximately $105 million off it.

Here are some lessons I've observed from the number one sports endorser in America:

• Continue to improve your game. Maximize the skills that helped you make it to the top. Be who you were meant to be, only continually growing. Woods is a student of the swing. Every year, he sets new goals for improving his swing--even after a year in which he's won millions. He's done the unthinkable a number of times in the recent past. He's changed his swing, all for the sake of improving.


• Live the straight and narrow. After he was charged with sexual assault for an incident in 2003, it was estimated that Kobe Bryant could lose as much as $150 million in future endorsements. Just prior to that, research had shown Bryant to be the number three sports endorser in the country, behind only Woods and Michael Jordan. A horrendous act begins with a fleeting thought and a decision made in a moment. The costs last a lifetime.


• Concentrate on family. Family has to be a priority no matter what your profession. Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, was present with their daughter, Sam, when Tiger won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. The celebration at the end included hugs and kisses with the wife and daughter. Woods stays centered by creating a home with his life mate and daughter.


• Make charity a major part of your game plan. Phelps, I know that you worked hard to win those medals, and you deserve the accolades. But, now that you're on top of the world, give a little back. The Tiger Woods Foundation was created to help children find and develop their skills. Through the organization, Woods does everything from providing an online learning center for kids to awarding scholarships. Nice touch! (see www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org)

Good life lessons for all of us. Gold medal winner or not, do these things and everyone will consider you a champion.

Olympic Fortunes/Go Deep

This past week, a 23-year-old single man and a 41-year-old mom had a lot in common.

They both finished in the top two in separate Olympic swimming events where the margin of victory was only one-hundredth of a second.

What a difference .01 makes.

Dara Torres (the mom) was in her fifth Olympics, quite a feat for any athlete. She had won ten career Olympic medals going into the 50 freestyle race. And, she zoomed into the finals with the fastest prelim time. But, alas, she was beaten by a sliver when her closest opponent touched wall first.

Michael Phelps, on the other hand, was the one who stole gold by coming from behind and beating the lead swimmer in the men's 100-meter butterfly. That turn of events earned Phelps one of eight gold medals during this Olympics, a never-before-attained mark.

Just a .01-second margin launches such a huge series of outcomes. To begin with, have you noticed how quickly the silvers are forgotten? How sad is that? We in American culture treat silver medals as rather ho-hum. Yet, how minuscule is the number of people who can say, "I'm the second fastest IN THE WORLD"?

Opposite that lack of credibility for silver is the marketability of gold. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, one of Phelps' agents said that Michael's eight gold medals won in prime time in Beijing will be worth $100 million over a lifetime. (See www.nbcolympics.com.)

Imagine, then, how things had to come together for Phelps in just the right way for him to win eight golds. Without that .01-second victory, Phelps would have had seven golds and one silver. So what would that have been worth?

Boy, these Olympic athletes really have to have their heads on straight. First, to compete under such extreme pressure. But then, once they have won, to handle all the glitter and trappings that come with that victory.

How will Phelps handle it? How should he handle it? More thoughts on Friday.

Olympic Fortunes/Think About It

Two athletes. Two races. Two stellar efforts.
Two totally different outcomes.

The Olympics always spawn remarkable stories of sacrifice, discipline, and superlative effort. Sometimes, though, the outcome of all that investment and performance is not victory. And the margin between celebration and remorse can be excruciatingly close.

The ultimate example of this competitive fact of life came in the 2008 Olympics. It involved two different American swimmers--Michael Phelps in the men's 100-meter butterfly and Dara Torres in the women's 50-meter freestyle.

Both had put incredible efforts into preparation. Both were competing at a heightened level of spirit and energy. Both gave amazing performances. But the outcomes of their races were like mirror images.

Phelps was close behind the leader for most of the 100 butterfly final. But at the very end of the race, his final stroke ended perfectly so that, as he finished it, his fingers jammed into the wall. His rival's final stroke, though, finished inches from the wall so that he coasted into the finish. That minute difference gave Phelps a gold victory by one-hundredth of a second--the slimmest possible margin.

It was pure ecstasy for Phelps, who needed that victory to make his phenomenal goal of winning eight gold medals in a single Olympics come true. Watching from the sidelines was Torres, who wondered what the second-place finisher must have felt after losing by such a small margin.

Later in the day, Torres led all the way in the women's 50 freestyle final. Until the very end of the race, that is. Her closest opponent touched the wall just one-hundredth of a second before Torres, stealing the gold.

"Unbelievable." That's how both Phelps and Torres must have felt at first. But the reality of the results--one gold and the other silver--followed quickly.

By one-hundredth of a second, one competitor ends up in the highlights of promotional Olympic spots; the other gets a consolation "how did it make you feel" interview.

Hmmmm. The turns life takes on such small margins. Think about it.