Whatever Happened to Mark Spitz?
Even though Mark Spitz was not in the pool, Mark Spitz was the one Michael Phelps had to beat during the 2008 Olympic Games. Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
From Wikipedia:
After his retirement at age 22, he was managed by the William Morris Agency, which tried to get him into show business while his name was still hot. In 1973–74, Spitz appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and TV series such as The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and Emergency! as paramedic Pete Barlow. Spitz went to work for ABC Sports in 1976 and worked on many sports presentations, including coverage of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1985 he appeared as a TV announcer in Challenge of a Lifetime. He continued as a broadcaster for some time, but within a few years, he had all but vanished as a public figure.
As his endorsements faded he started a successful real-estate company in Beverly Hills. Spitz is currently self-employed as a corporate spokesperson and motivational speaker. However, Sports Yahoo! lists his occupation as a stock broker and motivational speaker.
Hubby and I were wondering why Spitz was not in the crowd watching Michael Phelps swim at the Olympics. I did a bit of googling and found out he was not invited! Spitz was not happy about the snub.
Spitz and Suzy Weiner, a UCLA theater student and part-time model, were married on May 6, 1973. They have two sons, Matthew (born October 1981) and Justin (born September 1991).
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September 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Well, one day Phelps’ star will fade as well and he’ll be writing about a snub he received. You just have to take life in stride.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:47 am
That would have been a historic event and would show that athletics is a lifelong activity. Oh, well…
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:34 am
It’s amazing what short term memories we have. I hope Plelps bothered to research Spitz because he can learn a valuable lesson from him.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Oh! I remember when he was on Emergency! I used to love that show. He played a character that shot his pregnant wife by mistake when he was cleaning his gun. It had a happy ending!
He was totally snubbed. I would have liked to have seen him in China, but I guess it was Phelps’s moment.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I was wondering why he wasn’t there! I saw him in a very small interview during one of the swim races, but that was it. Wonder why he wasn’t invited.
September 4th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Very interesting! It makes me wonder, too, why Spitz wasn’t invited. That’s really surprising to me.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I’m disappointed that Spitz wasn’t invited. Although I was certain it was Sam Malone when I opened the site and saw the pic!