Milorad Cavic knew Michael Phelps was right there.
"There was no need to look over," he said. "I saw his shadow in the corner of my goggles."
Cavic introduced himself to the world Saturday as Phelps' closest challenger at the Beijing Olympics, almost ending the American's attempt to break Mark Spitz's record haul of seven gold medals at one Olympics.
The American-born Serb lost by a mere hundredth of a second to Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly, a finish so close that the Serbs filed a protest and swimming's governing body FINA had to review the tape down to the 10-thousandth of a second.
"We don't want to have any doubts about the decision and the integrity of FINA," said Kapor Mladen, head coach of Serbia's swim team. "They say this is how it happened and we assume everybody was treated equally in the race."
Mladen was the one who filed the protest, and he ultimately accepted the final review, even though he wasn't completely satisfied.
"Satisfied is a tough word for this," Mladen told The Associated Press several hours after the race. "We're satisfied with the silver medal. It would have been nice to win gold, but we only wanted silver for this race."
Phelps now has seven gold medals in seven races; this was the only time in these Olympics that he won an event without breaking the world record.
"I didn't beat Phelps, but perhaps I'm the only guy at this competition who had a shot at beating Phelps one-on-one," Cavic said. "People will be asking me about this for years."
Phelps' time was 50.58 seconds while Cavic finished oh-so-close behind, in 50.59 seconds. The medal is Serbia's first since Montenegro separated from the Balkan nation in 2006.
As they approached the finish, with Phelps' head in line with Cavic's shoulder, the Serb took his final big stroke and glided underwater toward the gold. Phelps, his timing a bit off but fully aware of where he was, did another mini-stroke, propelling his upper body out of the water, swooping his arms in a huge circular motion and slamming the wall with his hands on the follow-through.
Phelps was in seventh position at the 50-meter mark.
"I knew that I was leading the race after the first 50 _ I usually do _ and I knew that Michael is fast in the second 50 and he would be chasing me," Cavic said.
"I think if we got to do this again, I would win it."
Mladen said the worst thing would have been if Phelps was awarded victory but evidence showed otherwise.
"He's going to win eight gold medals, but then rumors would have started that it wasn't fair," the coach said. "Rumors will start anyway, of course."
Cavic said he wouldn't have filed the protest if it were up to him.
"There is a gold medal at stake, but I came into this expecting bronze and I did one better and got silver and almost the gold," he said. "We all know technology today is imperfect. It's possible" there was an error.
"But I'm taking what I got and I'm very happy," he said.
Writing on his blog, Cavic emphasized that there were no "sour grapes," and that the protest was filed by Serbia's Olympic committee and swimming staff, not him or his coach.
"I almost won the gold, and if you ask me, the clock does not lie," Cavic wrote.
"If you ask me, it should be accepted and we should move on," he wrote. "I've accepted defeat, and there's nothing wrong with losing to the greatest swimmer there has ever been."
Back home in Serbia, Cavic already was a national hero.
Cavic endeared himself to Serbs in March when he was suspended from the European Championships for wearing a T-shirt proclaiming "Kosovo is Serbia" _ a reference to Kosovo's controversial declaration of independence from Serbia on Feb. 17.
After returning home from that meet, Cavic was greeted by hundreds of fans and met with Serbian nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who called the swimmer a "hero."
Now Serbs have a new reason to cheer him.
"(Losing) by a hundredth of a second is difficult. It's the hardest loss, but it's a complete miracle I'm here considering I was going to retire a year and a half ago," the 24-year-old Cavic said. "From my heart, I'm enjoying it and I wish I had a gold medal, but I'm happy with a silver."
At the Euros, Cavic made his political statement on the podium after winning the 50 fly, displaying a red T-shirt with text in Cyrillic. The European swimming federation ruled the message a political slogan and ejected him _ knocking him out of his remaining two events.
"I had to help my people knowing it could be a big risk for my swimming career. I'm proud of what I did," Cavic said then. "I had to do it to help the (Kosovo Serbs), knowing how hard it is for them there."
Cavic became an inspiration among Serbs who object to losing Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian-dominated territory which many Serbs consider the historic cradle of their nation.
Kosovo's independence has been recognized by the United States and most European Union nations.
Cavic, who was born in California to Serb parents and trains in Florida, said he was just trying to send "positive energy" to the country he represents.
"It meant a lot at that moment," Mladen said. "But now he's proved himself as a great swimmer, one that almost beat Phelps."
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http://www.miloradcavic.com
