Last night, I was one of millions of Americans who I'm sure witnessed the amazing finish in the Olympic men's 400 meter freestyle relay swim race for the gold metal. The United States relay team, led by swimmer phenom Michael Phelps, was not expected to win the race. While commentators said that they had a shot if each individual swimmer put in a perfect effort, the general concession was that the French team would take the gold.

There was also mention of the French team doing some trash talking prior to the race. The Americans, however, focused only on swimming their very best in this race. As the race began, with Phelps leading off, the excitement started to build. Phelps swam his lap in record speed but was still behind the French leader. The second and third legs of the race went similarly, with the Americans remaining in first or second place throughout. Once the fourth leg of the race - swam for the U.S. by 32-year old Jason Lezak - began, the French had a considerable lead. Lezak swam hard but remained about 4 or 5 feet (I'm judging this simply by the appearance on TV; I'm no swim expert, so that might be a little off) behind Alain Bernard, the French anchor, until the final half length of the race. In what seemed like an impossible burst of speed, Lezak make up the distance, pushing just past Bernard, to win the race by a finger-tip.

The members of the U.S. team went crazy, celebrating their victory after it had seemed to have slipped from their grasp. American TV commentators roared with excitement and the crowd went wild. It was certainly a great Olympic moment for the United States. Michael Phelps was particularly excited, because winning this gold medal meant that his quest to win a record 8 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics was still alive.

I find it inspiring the way that Americans support their athletes at the Olympics on the world stage. I generally have no particular interest in many of the sporting events that our athletes compete in. I would usually never watch swimming, diving, fencing, or volleyball - they're just not sports I find particularly entertaining. However, when it comes to the Olympics - when U.S. athletes are competing for our country, against the greatest athletes in the world, and as part of an event where members of countries worldwide come together - I find myself drawn to watch and to cheer for the American athletes in all sports.

I also love getting to see the powerful stories behind some of the athletes competing. One example is of a gymnast on the German women's team. At 33 years old, Oksana Chusovitina is an Olympic veteran and more than twice the age of many fellow competitors. After winning team gold at the Barcelona games in 1992 with the Soviet Union, she went on to compete for Uzbekistan prior to 2006. In 2001, when her son was diagnosed with leukemia, she and her family moved to Germany to seek treatment for him. The treatments were successful, and his cancer is now in remission. Chusovitina went on to gain Germain citizenship and compete in gymnastics for the country that "saved her son." The Beijing Olympics mark her fifth time competing in the Olympic games. Despite wanting to see the U.S. do well in every sport, I think I'll be silently hoping for her to do well - after all that she's been through with her son's illness, she deserves it!