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By Chia Han Keong
THEY cried and shouted; they screamed and dreamed. When it comes to competing in the Olympics, it is a family affair.
Just ask Tao Li's mother, Madam Li Yan, who was perched high at the National Aquatics Centre stands, cheering her daughter on.
When Tao qualified for the 100m butterfly final on Sunday, becoming Singapore's first swimmer to reach an Olympic final, she called her mother minutes after her semi-final race, where she broke the Asian record.
Madam Li told The Straits Times: "She called and I was telling her how proud I was that she had made the final, and how proud I was that she had broken the Asian record.
"Then she said, 'Ma, I want the medal.'
"I didn't know what to say at first. Then I told her that she's already surpassed expectations and that she should just go out and swim her best."
Tao finished fifth in the final, and Madam Li was probably the proudest of her daughter's achievements.
She said: "She has every reason to hold her head up high."
She was not the only mother anxiously supporting her child at the pool.
Even the best swimmer of them all, Michael Phelps, has his mother Deborah at the poolside, living every nervous moment of her son's historic attempt to win eight golds.
Smartly made-up, with short, wavy hair, Mrs Deborah Phelps, 57, a Baltimore college principal, was hounded by journalists after races, just like her son.
"What did he say to you after the race?" she was asked.
"'I love you, mum'," she replied.
The mothers of Chinese competitors are regularly sought out by local television interviewers, too.
On Sunday, the mother of Guo Wenjun, the gold medallist in the women's 10m air pistol shooting event, collapsed in uncontrollable sobs after seeing her daughter triumph.
"I don't know what to say. In fact, I'm too emotional and so happy," said Guo's mother.
"What makes me so proud is the honour she brings to the country and the people."
Some athletes here prefer to have a whole raft of family members on hand.
American sprinter Tyson Gay, the world 100m champion, arrived in Beijing with his mother, stepfather, siblings and niece.
"I like to be surrounded by members of my family, they help me relax," he said.
- ADDITONAL INFO FROM AFP
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