IRONY 101"
Mark Spitz left amatuer swimming after the 1972 Olympics to earn a decent living. It wasn't until 1998 that Olympians were allowed to pocket endorsement bucks. Michael Phelps has been made a millionaire as an Olympic swimmer between 2004 and today - and can keep on training (and earning) for the 2012 Olympics.
der Brucer
To be perfectly fair about this, Spitz had several "golden" chances at cashing in on his unbelievable accomplishment.
That he had no "camera personality" was quite evident. He was and is highly photogenic, but in 1972, he was totally clueless about how to present himself on a camera. His attempts at advertising were woefully wooden.
There was a great deal of resentment of Spitz between 1968 and 1972. He was rather luckluster at the 1968 Mexico City games, and it didn't help that he had boasted he would win six gold medals. (He won two, and both were in team relays). The USOC apparently believed in his potential enough to walk all over other members of the men's swim team in 1972. Things were arranged to accommodate Spitz's ability to swim in the maximum number of events. It was, in fact, the beginning of a change in Olympic sports -- the replacement of the gracious, self-effacing athlete bringing glory to his country and the "I-Me-Mine" athlete stepping up and announcing that everything was about "him".
The Munich games were severely marred, of course, by the terrorist attack on the Israeli team in the men's Olympic village. Many athletes left on their own accord, Spitz included, before the games were suspended.
Michael Phelps, DESPITE the USOC's quest for gold, gold, gold, manages to balance the overly obsessive media attention toward the end results of his athletic endeavors by displaying a genuinely likable personality.
Spitz walked alone in Munich. He arrived, he swam and he left -- alone. Phelps personified teamwork and has been highly vocal about not being able to do anything without the support of same.
